7/9/2014: Scotland's Financial Services and the UK

Here is an interesting tweet on the size and inter-links between Scottish Financial Services and the UK:

But here are some other facts:

• Financial Services contributed £8.8bn to the Scottish economy in 2010 or over 8% of Scottish onshore economic activity.
• Financial Services direct supported 85,000 employees and indirectly provided jobs for 100,000 more, accounting for around 7% of total employment.
• Banking, as a sub-sector of the Financial Services is the largest contributor to the Scottish economy adding over £4bn, or nearly half of the total financial services contributions.
• Adding to the financial services the associated professional services combined broader financial services sector employs a total of 148,600 people, or 6.1% of total Scottish employment, contributing over £14bn to the economy, 13.1% of Scottish GDP.
• More than 40% of Scottish postal services & almost 30% of Scottish accountancy services are sold to the Scottish financial sector. Almost 19.4% of all 'other business services' in Scotland are supplied to the financial services contractors, 18.7% of all advertising, 18.2% of computing services, 18.1% of real estate services, 17.6% of printing and publishing, 20% of research services, 16.3% of legal activities, 16% of telecommunications, and 13.4% of air transport services.
• The Scottish banking sector (a subset of Financial Services sector) is huge. The assets of the whole UK banking sector (including Scotland) are ca 490-500% of UK GDP. Scottish banks assets total around 1,254% of Scotland’s GDP, not counting any effects on the GDP from a vote for independence. In comparison, at the end of 2007, Icelandic banks had assets were around 800% of GDP, while Cypriot banks assets amounted to around 700% (450% for domestic banks). Irish banking system reached around 894% of GDP at the peak of pre-crisis boom.
• Scottish banking system is heavily concentrated (a factor that played significant role in the Cypriot banking crisis): the two largest banks – the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). As the UK Government report (see link below) of May 2013 notes, "There could be questions about an independent Scotland’s ability to stabilise its banking system in the event of a future financial crisis. In 2008, the UK Government spent £45 billion recapitalising the RBS in order to protect the deposits and savings of households and small business. In addition, the bank received £275 billion of guarantees through the UK Government’s Asset Protection Scheme. This combined support from the UK Government to RBS is equivalent to some 211 per cent of Scottish GDP in 2008." The later accounts for Scotland's geographical share of North Sea oil revenues.
• Quoting from the same report: "The Scottish financial services industry estimates that 90 per cent of its customers are located in the rest of the UK, and the market is highly integrated for most financial products. For example, 89 per cent of stocks and shares Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) provided by Scottish firms are sold to customers based in the rest of the UK, and 33 per cent of the Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) opened by Scottish consumers were with non-Scottish firms."
• Two main banks in Scotland control 70% share of the market for SMEs lending in 2011, Lloyds: 36% and RBS 34%.

On the opposite side of trade: 

• 70 per cent of all pension products bought by Scottish consumers are from firms based in the rest of the UK.
• 48 per cent of adults in Scotland currently have an ISA, which attract UK tax relief. Per UK Government report: "ISAs would cease to be available in the current form if Scotland separated from the rest of the UK."
• 24 per cent of employment in the UK life and pensions sector is based in Scotland, but 91% of pensions products originating in Scotland are for non-Scottish residents.
• Funds management is a big business in Scotland, with an estimated £750bn of assets under management and an estimated 3,600 people employed (directly and in related services). The Scottish share of the UK asset management sector was 6.4% in 2010. Two of the UK’s top 10 asset management firms: BlackRock International Ltd (the largest in the UK) and Standard Life Investments (the ninth largest) were based in Scotland.
• 90% of Scottish Financial Services customers reside in the rest of the UK. 84% of mortgages issued in Scottish institutions are to customers outside Scotland. 
• 58% of total exports and 71% of total imports in Scotland are with the rest of the UK.

More analysis and facts on the interlinks between the UK and the Financial Services in Scotland available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scotland-analysis-financial-services-and-banking