Banks and building societies
Scotland has a long and distinguished history in banking, with the Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh opening its doors in 1695, only a year later than the Bank of England (itself started by a Scotsman, William Paterson). Today, Scotland hosts the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank (part of the National Australia Banking Group) and Tesco Bank. It is also a key location for Lloyds Banking Group, with the restructuring Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB sharing the iconic building on the Mound in the centre of Edinburgh with the Group's insurance division headquarters. Many other international banks also have operating bases in Scotland.Two familiar Scottish names moved into this sector in recent years when Scottish Widows started its bank in 1995 and Standard Life Bank opened its doors for the first time in 1998. One of the UK's largest banks, HSBC, also have sizeable and growing operations in Scotland across a range of business areas.
Key facts
Between them our member companies in this sector employ a substantial workforce in Scotland, which we judge to be around 40,000 people in 2008. The global nature of the sector means our members employ many thousands more worldwide. Ninety per cent of SFE's banks and building societies member companies service their UK wide customer base from Scotland.
Our banks and building societies undertake a diverse range of business activities from Scotland including (but not limited to):
- Retail Banking
- Corporate Banking
- Treasury
- Insurance services
- Actuarial services
- Consultancy services
- Mortgage services
- Investment management
- Corporate finance
Did you know?
In most countries it is only governments, through their central banks, that are permitted to issue currency. But in Scotland three banks are still allowed to issue banknotes, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland (part of Lloyds Banking Group) and Clydesdale Bank. This practice dates back as far as 1695, and was started by the Bank of Scotland (which at the time enjoyed a monopoly over Scottish banking).
In 1875 the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland was founded as a professional and educational body, making it the world's oldest professional body for practising bankers.
The Dunfermline Building Society was formed in 1869, which makes it the oldest building society in Scotland, as well as one of only two indigenous building societies.
Lloyds TSB Scotland traces its heritage back to 1810 when the Reverend Henry Duncan opened the UK's first self-supporting savings bank in Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, to help his parishioners save for times of hardship. The savings bank, pioneered by Duncan, has become a worldwide phenomenon, with savings banks across the globe attributing their origins to the model developed in Scotland.
