Scottish Financial Review

Shares of Edinburgh-based international oil and gas company Cairn Energy rose about 3% on Tuesday after it said it entered into a farm-out agreement for the…

Outgoing Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan has said RBS would move its headquarters to London if Scotland becomes independent because the bank…

A new poll published on Monday showed Scottish voters would back independence and they want another referendum in the next two years. Asked how they…

Former Scottish Enterprise CEO Lena Wilson has joined recently-listed foreign exchange firm Argentex Group as its senior independent director and chair of its nominations committee….

HSBC chief executive officer John Flint is to leave the group after just 18 months in the CEO role. Analysts speculated that Flint’s departure was…

Veteran Scottish investment banker and business executive Robert Smith, Lord Smith of Kelvin, has been appointed chair of the board at Scottish Enterprise.  Smith, 75, is…

Troubled East Kilbride-based Goals Soccer Centres plc said on Friday it expects its shares to be delisted from London’s AIM market next month after an…

UPDATE 3 — Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday announced a £1.7 billion dividend, of which more than £1 billion will go to the UK…

The Bank of England (BoE), the UK’s central bank, cut its growth forecasts on Thursday amid increased Brexit concerns and a slowing global economy. However…

Mark McSherry Central banks around the world bought a record $15.7 billion of gold in the first six months of 2019. Central banks have increased…

Deliveroo said it acquired Edinburgh-based software design and development firm Cultivate to create a tech hub in Edinburgh, Deliveroo’s first UK tech office outside of…

London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSEG) said on Thursday it agreed to buy financial information firm Refinitiv in an all-share $27 billion deal that would…

Glasgow-based sausage skin and collagen products firm Devro said on Wednesday its first-half profit before tax rose 25% to £13.6 million despite revenue slipping to £119.2 million…

Glasgow-based Smart Metering Systems (SMS) said on Wednesday it installed 156,000 domestic smart meters in the first half of 2019, taking the group’s domestic smart portfolio…

Shares of Glasgow-based banking group CYBG — owner of Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank and Virgin Money — fell 11% on Tuesday after it said its net…

UPDATE 2 — Shares of Glasgow-based engineering and mining giant Weir Group fell almost 6% on Tuesday after it said its first-half oil and gas orders fell…

Shares of Glasgow-based Aggreko, the world’s largest temporary power firm, rose 6% on Tuesday after it said its profit before tax edged 2% higher to £60 million…

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Barclays, JP Morgan, UBS and Citigroup are being sued by investors over allegations they rigged the global foreign exchange market,…

ScotlandIS, the organisation for the digital technologies industry in Scotland, has appointed Jane Morrison-Ross as its new chief executive officer. The digital technologies industry is…

Shares in Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct fell by as much as 27% on Monday morning following the chaos that surrounded the retailer’s delayed annual results…

Claire Reid has been named PwC’s first female leader in Scotland, replacing Lindsay Gardiner who is stepping down from the role after seven years. Gardiner…

Glasgow-based banking group CYBG — owner of Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, Virgin Money and digital brand B — promised shareholders on Friday it would be…

Edinburgh-based funds platform Nucleus Financial Group on Friday gave an update on its assets under administration (AUA) for the three months to June 30, 2019.  Nucleus…

The new CEO of TSB — currently owned by Spain’s Banco Sabadell — said on Friday TSB has “begun a new chapter” as it announced…

Scotch whisky giant Diageo said on Thursday it approved plans to return up to £4.5 billion to shareholders over financial years 2020-2022. For the year…

BrewDog’s “CEO of beer” — former Red Bull UK MD Andy Shaw — has left the Aberdeenshire craft brewing firm just five months after joining…

Dundee-based investment firm Alliance Trust, which appointed external asset managers Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in 2017, said on Thursday its total shareholder return (TSR) was 16.8%…

Standard Life Aberdeen plc (SLA) on Wednesday announced details of its settlement with Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) and Scottish Widows in relation to arbitration proceedings…

Royal Bank of Scotland has approached Ian Stuart, the boss of HSBC’s UK operation, about possibly becoming its next chief executive, according to a report…

Martin Gilbert is to step down from the board of Edinburgh-based investment giant Standard Life Aberdeen to take up the role of chairman at digital…

Lloyds Banking‎ Group is to pay about £140 million to Standard Life Aberdeen to settle a legal fight over the future of a £100 billion…

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Tuesday it fined Standard Life Assurance Limited (SLAL) £30.7 million “for failures related to non-advised sales of…

A crossparty group of UK parliamentarians is set to bring a legal challenge in the Scottish courts over whether the next UK prime minister can…

UK company dividends rose 14.5% to an all-time high of £37.8 billion in the second quarter, beating the previous record of two years ago by…

Shares of Jersey Oil & Gas (JOG) soared 155% on Monday after it said it was awarded 100% working interests and operatorship of three North…

The number of businesses in Scotland has increased by 46% — or 106,585 –since 1999 when the Scottish Parliament was re-established, according to new research…

UPDATE 4 — National Australia Bank (NAB) announced on Friday the appointment of outgoing Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Ross McEwan as NAB’s group chief…

Perth-based energy giant SSE plc on Thursday reported a 1.2% dip in GB domestic customer accounts and stuck to its full-year targets despite seeing a…

Business advisory firm Grant Thornton has promoted Debbie Mayor, who leads its transaction advisory service team in Scotland, to director.  Based in the firm’s Edinburgh…

The unemployment rate in Scotland remains lower than the UK average for the 10th month in a row, according to the latest labour market statistics…

Scottish Rugby announced on Tuesday a six-year extension to its partnership with kit suppliers Macron which will run until at least June 2026. “The seven-figure…

Shares of Cumbernauld-based Irn-Bru maker A.G. Barr fell 25% on Tuesday after the firm said it expects profit to fall 20% this year amid disappointing…

Shares of Scottish companies listed on the main FTSE stock market ended June 9.5% higher than they started the year, compared to a rise of…

New figures show that wind power output reached a record high during first six months of year in Scotland. WWF Scotland said on Monday that…

UK digital bank Revolut is keen to appoint Standard Life Aberdeen vice chairman Martin Gilbert as its new chairman to win over investors ahead of…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) said on Friday it has forged a strategic partnership with Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The partnership…

The UK’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has launched the 32nd Offshore Licensing Round with 768 blocks or part-blocks on offer across the main producing…

Earlston-based BSW Timber Limited — the largest integrated forestry business in the UK — said on Friday it acquired Maelor Forest Nurseries Holdings Ltd. Maelor…

Edinburgh-based John Menzies plc, the global airport services firm, said on Friday Dermot Smurfit will step down as chairman and be succeeded by non-executive director Philipp…

Shares of Edinburgh-based video security company IndigoVision rose 10% on Thursday after it said in a trading update its sales rose 8% to $24.1 million…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Aberdeen Standard Investments has expanded its Pan European Residential Property Fund (ASPER) SICAV-RAIF with the purchase of a newly constructed residential portfolio…

UPDATE 3 — Swiss Re announced on Thursday the suspension of its plans for a $4.1 billion initial public offering (IPO) of UK life insurance…

Buccleuch — one of Scotland’s biggest private landowners — announced on Thursday it is holding discussions with community bodies which have expressed an interest in…

The European Commission (EC) on Wednesday cut its euro area GDP growth and inflation forecast for next year as it warned the near-term outlook for the…

The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) on Wednesday delivered a scathing review of the UK’s seven largest accounting firms, saying “poor quality audit work remains…

Norway-based private equity fund HitecVision and Oman-based oil group Petrogas have joined forces to buy a portfolio of British North Sea oilfields for $635 million…

Mowi, the world’s largest salmon farming company, has offered to close two of its “contentious” Scottish salmon farm sites in return for permission to relocate…

Shares of The Scottish Salmon Company PLC (SSC) rose about 13% on Monday after it said it has received “several formal, non-binding expressions of interest…

The Institute of Directors Scotland announced on Monday that Malcolm Cannon has been appointed National Director for Scotland and will assume the role in September….

Shepherd and Wedderburn, the largest Scottish-headquartered UK law firm, said it achieved record financial results in its 250th year in the year to April 30,…

Scotland’s largest law firm Brodies LLP said its turnover rose 12% to £76.86 million for the financial year to April 30, 2019. Profits before partner…

Edinburgh-based investment giant Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) on Monday announced the appointment of Noel Butwell as CEO of Standard Life Savings. Butwell’s responsibilities encompass Standard…

Scotland was the fastest-growing area of the UK for new business in June and joint third-strongest for output, according to the latest Royal Bank of…

Deutsche Bank said on Sunday it will scrap its global equities business and scale back its investment bank, a move that will cut about 18,000…

Saudi-based Arbah Capital has acquired the landmark Sauchiehall Building retail block in the city centre of Glasgow from US investment firm KKR for £60 million…

Shares of Edinburgh-based John Menzies plc, the global airport services firm, fell 12% on Friday after it warned in a trading update that earnings for…

The Women’s Tour of Scotland announced that Edinburgh investment giant Baillie Gifford will be its new lead partner as the list of teams that will…

The latest Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) Quarterly Economic Indicator survey for Q2 of 2019 shows businesses in Scotland “are resilient and demonstrating their underlying…

European leaders have agreed on who should fill the top jobs for its main institutions after a marathon summit. France’s Christine Lagarde has been proposed…

Aberdeen Football Club said on Tuesday that shareholders who were present at its EGM voted unanimously to re-register as a private limited company. “When the…