eFinancialCareers

As the gloom surrounding Royal Bank of Scotland deepens, new chief exec Stephen Hester’s admission that the bank would have to “cut our cloth” has sparked fears that thousands of job cuts could be on the cards. Hester, who has joined the bank on a salary of £1.2m, has promised to cut costs, and the bank’s new strategic review is looking to focus on areas where it has a competitive... Read more

The HBOS merger saga continues. Only two of the top eight executives at the Scottish bank will join the senior management of the combined entity, which some are viewing as an indication of Lloyds TSB’s intentions for the rest of the work-force. Meanwhile, MSPs have backed calls to keep HBOS independent as fears over Scottish jobs and decision-making grow. The Scottish Parliament is in agreement that the government’s £37bn bailout (sorry,... Read more

Given that Scotland’s two largest banks are part-nationalised, it’s not surprising that the discussions regarding the future of jobs north of the border are the subject of a political barney. One of the clauses in the initial takeover document relating to Lloyds TSB's ingestion of HBOS was that the focus would be on retaining Scottish jobs and Scottish decision-making. With redundancies estimated at anything between 14,000 and 40,000, there’s reason... Read more

While employees at Scotland’s largest banks have been anxiously awaiting news of possible redundancies after government bailouts and rival takeovers, another organisation has been quietly expanding north of the border – Tesco Personal Finance. Tesco bought out Royal Bank of Scotland’s 50% shareholding in its banking arm back in July for £950m, and the firm has been bolstering its team since – mainly in Edinburgh. Former RBS and HBOS man... Read more

A clear favourite has emerged as the next chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland in the form of John McFarlane, who currently sits on the bank’s board as non-executive director. However, a political battle has begun to take shape and other candidates are emerging from the woodwork. The appointment of McFarlane, a Scot who was previously chief exec of Australia and New Zealand banking group ANZ, would ease the sensitivities... Read more

It was really a question of when, rather than if, the top brass at Scotland’s largest banks would step down after the escalating problems of recent weeks. Within minutes of one another, both the chief executives and chairmen of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS resigned after the banks accepted a £37bn government bailout. Last week, RBS denied that it was looking for a replacement for chief exec Sir... Read more

The 3,250 employees housed in Royal Bank of Scotland’s Edinburgh headquarters are understandably on tenterhooks at the moment. With the bank’s market value hitting a new low, and part-nationalisation on the cards, there is unease over what this new lack of independence might mean for jobs. RBS shares took a nose-dive on Tuesday after concerns over its ability to fund itself, and its links with the government’s £50bn rescue package.... Read more

In spite of the problems rocking Scotland’s banks, it seems Edinburgh’s appeal as a place to work remains in tact. Glasgow, however, has slid down the rankings in the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI). There’s a caveat to add to the above statement, though – the cut-off point for the latest survey conducted by research firm Z/Yen, in association with the Corporation of London, was in July, which was... Read more

As the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB looks set to be a done deal, Scottish jobs are, for the time being, the most secure. But this hasn’t stopped employees sending out speculative CVs or industry players pushing for other options. One of the clauses in the formal takeover proposal of HBOS is that “the management focus is to keep jobs in Scotland”, sparking rumours that the bulk of the... Read more

Despite posting the second biggest loss (£691m) in UK banking history, analysts say Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is unlikely to make any more redundancies than those already expected from the integration of ABN Amro’s capital markets division. This morning, RBS posted a pre-tax loss of £691m during the first half of this year after being pounded by sub-prime losses of £5.9bn. Sir Fred Goodwin, chief executive of RBS, said it had... Read more

Things are looking grim at Scottish giant HBOS. Not only are its cheeks burning from a £4bn rights issue that left 62% of shares on the underwriters’ books, but it has announced plans to axe 650 jobs in its business banking division over the next 18 months. What hope is there for Scotland’s out of work bankers? The job losses are likely to result from the merger of two... Read more

Financial services professionals are no longer the most in demand in Scotland, but recruiters insist the market is as active as ever. The Bank of Scotland Labour Market Report acts as a barometer of employment in the country, and shows that the number of financial services jobs in Scotland fell slightly in May. In February, accounting and finance had the largest number of vacancies in Scotland. Now the sector ranks... Read more