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Royal Bank of Scotland Group is to prioritise cost cutting at its private client subsidiary Coutts during the first half of next year, Bloomberg has reported. Alongside cost reductions at RBS’s investment bank and its Irish Ulster Bank division, chief executive officer Ross McEwan wants to lower e

UK bankers and market watchers now place fears about cyber crime at the top of a list of 24 possible risks to banks, a view slightly at odds with many countries around the world which rate the economic environment as posing the greatest risk. Banks are seen as prime targets for financial crime, part

Savers with cash accounts will benefit from a new package of measures published today by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) designed to improve competition by encouraging easier and quicker switching and improving the information savers receive. From December 2016, firms will have to provide clea

David Duffy Clydesdale Bank announced the appointment of two new members to its senior team as it prepares to become one of the largest independent “challenger” banks in the UK.

Royal Bank of Scotland has signed a series of exclusive agreements with three separate investment partners in a move that the 73 per cent state-owned lender says will provide UK businesses greater access to capital investment. Edinburgh-based RBS has teamed-up with AIG Asset Management, Hermes Inves

The Scottish government’s Land Reform Bill requires strengthening in key areas to deliver on its radical ambitions, according to a report by the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment committee (RACCE). The committee highlighted a range of issues in its report on the

Lord Keen of Elie QC Disputes under the major UK government services contract can now be resolved in Scotland, the Advocate General for Scotland Lord Keen of Elie QC announced today.

Alasdair Cummings Scots lawyers Lindsays have said it has no intention of merging with an English firm but is nevertheless open to opportunities as the Scottish legal sector continues to consolidate.

Edinburgh-based Aegon has increased its investment in Indian life firm Aegon Religare Life Insurance Company. The move takes the Dutch insurer’s stake from 26 per cent to 49 per cent and follows a recent revision to India's insurance laws enabling foreign companies to own up to 49 per cent of an I

PwC has found that over the last seven days, 62 per cent of 100 high street retailers were holding sales or advertising promotions in their shop window. This is up four percentage points on the previous week, and on par with the same time last year (63 per cent), but far from the level seen in 2008

A leading economic forecaster has revised down its forecast for economic growth in Scotland over the past year from 2.2 per cent to 1.9 per cent. The EY Scottish Item Club also warned that it expected growth in 2016 to be even lower at 1.8 per cent.

Clydesdale Bank owner National Australia Bank (NAB) has confirmed today that it plans to float 25 per cent of its Glasgow subsidiary in February. Glasgow-based Clydesdale, along with its Yorkshire Bank brand, is to be demerged from its Australian parent through a flotation on the London Stock Exchan

Royal Bank of Scotland has struck a deal to sell £1.63 billion of Irish real estate loans to US private equity firm Lone Star Funds and homebuilder Cairn Homes. At completion, Ulster Bank Ireland and Ulster Bank will receive about £360 million in cash at current exchange rates, a gain of about £2

Scottish businesses are set to suffer a major blow ahead of Christmas after it was announced this morning that The Forth Road Bridge (FRB) is to shut until the New Year for repairs following the discovery of defective steel work earlier this week.

After HMRC this week issued letters to Scottish taxpayers about the introduction of the new Scottish Rate of Income Tax (SRIT), accountants RSM has warned that the campaign underplays the impact on employers. The letter encourages Scottish taxpayers to ensure their address details are correct and se