Utilising the Irish/Scottish finance corridor
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Brexit
Utilising the Irish/Scottish
finance corridor
March 2019
The Scottish Irish Finance Our aim and hope is that trade between the two
jurisdictions will not only continue but expand and
Initiative was founded in part to our hope is that a proactive, pragmatic and sensible
overcome Brexit-related issues approach to Brexit difficulties can actually open up
for the finance industry. opportunities. Already the challenge of Brexit has
spurred some companies into accelerating sales
Our aim with this document is to gather together into programmes and to look proactively at the international
one place the resources that any company might options available to them.
need when investigating the use of the Irish Scottish
All of this is underpinned by the continuing and
corridor as a facility to mitigate any Brexit challenges.
increasing goodwill between Ireland and Scotland –
Our thesis as always is that there are synergies whatever happens the ongoing development of this
and complimentary competencies in both locations bilateral relationship at a cultural, commercial and
that can help companies operate to their maximum governmental level will ease any short-term strains
potential. With Brexit, our focus is on ensuring that caused by the UK’s vote.
companies can continue to operate as freely as
possible within the EU and the UK and continue, as *The inclusion or omission of information on third parties
much as is possible, to access the benefits that were in this document does not constitute endorsement or any
implied opinion. SIFI is happy to update the document with
available to them pre-Brexit. further details on an ongoing basis.
Please contact david@scottishirishfinance.org.
While SIFI makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of its
publications, it takes no responsibility for errors or omissions.
Copyright Scottish Irish Finance Initiative 2019SCOTTISH IRISH FINANCE INITIATIVE - BREXIT READINESS RESOURCE
Government strategy Ireland has established itself alongside Luxembourg
Both Scotland and Ireland have administrations, and as one of the two main fund servicing hubs for Europe,
populations, that are in general pro-European and while also being the European home of a large number
recognise the importance of cross-border trade to their of international banking institutions and investment
own domestic economies. Therefore in our experience, banks. It also has an extensive legal services network
both governments are keen to do what they can to support the financial industry. As in Scotland it has
to provide an accommodative environment for the a significant fintech sector that has grown up both
international financial services industry. independently of, and in conjunction with, the growing
finance industry.
In Ireland, it is no secret that Brexit can be an
opportunity to enhance Ireland’s financial industry In short there are companies in both locations that
standing, but in Scotland as well there are a wide should be able to partner with and service international
range of qualities the makes the nation an attractive financial companies looking to establish in either
place to undertake financial services activities within place. Importantly, there are potential partners for
any Brexit settlement. businesses in both Scotland and Ireland that can help
with the continuation of trade post Brexit.
SIFI has strong relations with both governments,
working closely to develop our financial industries, For further information, we suggest tapping the
and ministers from both countries regularly attend our helpful and well-organised trade associations in
events. both locations. SIFI has close relations with our trade
groups and the companies they represent, and we
More details on the Irish Government’s financial sector seek to engage them in our meetings and policy
strategy (soon to be updated) can be found at the development.
following address:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/209a77-ifs2020- In Ireland:
strategy/ IBEC
The Scottish Government’s prospectus for its financial https://www.ibec.ie/IBEC/BA.nsf/vPages/Business_
industry can be found in the following link: Sectors~financial-services-ireland
https://www.sdi.co.uk/media/1643/scotland-financial- Irish Funds
services-brochure.pdf https://www.irishfunds.ie
Industries/companies For a link to Irish Funds members:
https://www.irishfunds.ie/about/members
Both locations are home to significant financial
industries. As a generalisation, Scotland has had a The IFSC is the body that oversees the development of
deep relationship with the finance industry going back the financial centre in Dublin’s docklands.
hundreds of years, while Ireland has astutely targeted http://www.ifsc.ie/
the growth of international banking and investment
management over the past 30 years to become a In Scotland
hugely significant European hub. Scottish Financial Enterprise
http://www.sfe.org.uk
From an overview perspective, Scotland is home
to a significant banking operations, including the And for a list of members:
headquarters of RBS, a large insurance industry grown http://www.sfe.org.uk/about/our-members/
out of the mutual societies that developed in the 19th
The BICC British Irish Chamber of Commerce has
and 20th centuries, significant investment operations
extensive links across these islands.
such as Aberdeen Standard and Baillie Gifford, a
http://www.britishirishchamber.com
large wealth management sector, and a growing
asset servicing industry. There is a large and growing There is also a developing business network between
fintech industry that benefits from being in proximity to Ireland and Scotland.
Scotland’s financial sector. https://www.causewayexchange.netSCOTTISH IRISH FINANCE INITIATIVE - BREXIT READINESS RESOURCE
Fintech Consultancies
There are several organisations that exist to help There are significant consultancy operations in both
promote our cutting-edge fintech industries, and both Ireland and Scotland with the major companies
governments are behind efforts to enhance this sector. represented.
SIFI holds many meetings with the industry to promote
The Scottish Irish Finance initiative works closely with
its development.
PwC, our event partners, who have offices across the
In Ireland the Fintech & Payments Association is a main Irish and Scottish cities.
company-led trade group that promotes the fintech https://www.pwc.ie
industry.
https://www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/regional-sites/
http://www.fpai.ie
scotland.html
In Scotland the Government has brought together
We have also contributed to work that EY has done on
under one umbrella organisation all of the various
behalf of the Scottish Government.
stakeholders in the fintech industry through FinTech
https://www.ey.com/ie
Scotland.
http://www.fintechscotland.com https://www.ey.com/uk/en/services/specialty-services/
ey-scotland
Universities Deloitte in Dublin also provide services to the finance
Both countries have strong third level education and
community.
research in finance. We have worked with, or have
https://www2.deloitte.com/ie/en/footerlinks/office-
come across in our fintech investigations, the following
locator/Dublin-Deloitte-Ireland-Office-details/Dublin-
third level institutions.
office-details.html
In Scotland Legal services
University of Strathclyde
Ireland operates within the common law system
https://www.strath.ac.uk
similar to England and Wales, while Scotland has a
University of Edinburgh hybrid legal system. For more information on the legal
https://www.ed.ac.uk/ services available in each location please contact the
following organisations:
Heriot Watt University
https://www.hw.ac.uk Law Society of Scotland
https://www.lawscot.org.uk/
In Ireland Law Society of Ireland
UCD – Michael Smurfit
https://www.lawsociety.ie/
Graduate School of Business
https://www.smurfitschool.ie
Regulation
Dublin Business School Obviously the final Brexit settlement will determine the
https://www.dbs.ie extent of activities that can take place cross-border.
Hearteningly, the regulators in Europe and the UK
Dublin City University
have already agreed memoranda of understanding
https://www.dcu.ie
that should come into place to help ensure the smooth
Trinity College Dublin continuation of business post Brexit. Details can be
https://www.tcd.ie found in the following press release here:
https://www.esma.europa.eu/press-news/esma-news/
University College Cork
esma-and-eu-securities-regulators-agree-no-deal-
https://www.ucc.ie/en
brexit-mous-fca
University of Limerick
In the investment sphere it seems that all parties
http://www.ul.ie/
in these islands are keen to see the continuation
of fund delegation activities. The regulators have
also expressed continued support for the ability
of companies to export activities outside of the
jurisdiction. For the latest guidance, this speech
from the Central Bank of Ireland can provide some
background.
https://www.centralbank.ie/news/article/asset-
management-after-brexit-michael-hodsonSCOTTISH IRISH FINANCE INITIATIVE - BREXIT READINESS RESOURCE
Locations/employee lifestyle
Michael Hodson recently spoke at a SIFI event and Both locations are keen to develop financial services
gave the following speech: broadly spread across the countries and there are
https://centralbank.ie/news/article/brexit-gatekeeping- opportunities to establish businesses in both urban
and-the-changing-landscape---michael-hodson- and rural locations. That said, financial services
director-of-asset-management-and-investment- are mainly centred in urban locations. In terms
banking of lifestyle, urban centres in both Scotland and
Ireland are never far away from the attractive rural
The FCA’s policy on Brexit can be seen here: landscapes that attract tourists throughout the year.
https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/policy-statements/ All of the main cities have attracted a cosmopolitan
ps19-5-brexit-policy-statement and young population in recent years, while the
The respective home pages for the regulators can larger the main cities, obviously the more significant
be found below here: artistic and cultural facilities can be accessed. The
towns and cities of Ireland have a range of events
Financial Conduct Authority throughout the year, as does Scotland; indeed
https://www.fca.org.uk/ Edinburgh lays claim to be the home of the largest
arts festival in the world.
Central Bank of Ireland
https://www.centralbank.ie/ Again, living costs tend to be higher in the more
developed urban areas, although costs are
Development agencies considerably cheaper than those of London.
Both Ireland and Scotland have highly professional Both countries have a mix of state and private
development agencies that can help companies educational opportunities. Scotland has a free-at-
trade and establish cross-border. Both countries the-point-of-delivery health service through the NHS.
offer, under certain circumstances, targeted While Ireland has a public health safety net, most
incentives for companies to establish operations people use health insurance to pay for their care.
domestically. SIFI works with agencies from both
nations to develop trade. In Ireland, Dublin is the main centre for financial
services operations, while Cork, the second city, is
In Scotland, business development activities building a growing financial services base too. Other
are overseen by Scottish Enterprise and by cities looking to build up their financial services
its international division Scottish Development industries include Limerick and Galway.
International: https://dublin.ie
https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/
https://www.corkcity.ie
https://www.sdi.co.uk/
http://www.galwaycity.ie
In Ireland, attracting inward investment is overseen
by the Industrial Development Authority: https://www.limerick.ie/council
https://www.idaireland.com in Scotland both Edinburgh and Glasgow have
International trade development is overseen by traditionally been financial centres – nowadays
Enterprise Ireland: Edinburgh still houses the headquarters for RBS and
https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/ some large asset managers, while Glasgow has a
growing asset servicing sector and Dundee remains
Both countries are keen to develop financial services the headquarters for Alliance Trust. Aberdeen is the
industries across the regions and have been highly home of Scotland’s significant oil industry.
successful in this strategy. Further information can http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/
be found from relevant local authorities, while the
following two organisations are particularly focused https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/
on developing industry in rural locations. https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk
In Ireland Uderas na Gaeltachta helps to develop the https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/
Irish speaking regions that are mainly located across
the western seaboard:
http://www.udaras.ie/en/
In Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise is
focused on developing these regions:
http://www.hie.co.uk/SCOTTISH IRISH FINANCE INITIATIVE - BREXIT READINESS RESOURCE
Labour Transport
While the move in the UK to limit freedom of One of the key attractions of a combined business
movement will make it more difficult to hire European approach to Scotland and Ireland is the easy and
citizens, both countries benefit greatly from continued regular transport links between the two locations. In
access to extended labour resources through the fact the commute from Edinburgh to Dublin office-
Common Travel Area. In effect this means that Irish to-office is achievable in under 2.5 hours. Between
citizens can continue to freely travel, live and work Edinburgh and Dublin there are roughly seven flights
in the UK post Brexit with the same benefits for UK a day, with slightly fewer on the Glasgow/Dublin
citizens in Ireland. route. There are various other flights between the
other cities on less frequent basis.
More information on the CTA can be found in the link
below. Both locations maintain very close and easy links with
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/travelling- London. While airlines fly on these routes regularly,
in-the-common-travel-area-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/ Scotland benefits from being on the same land mass
travelling-within-the-common-travel-area-and-the- and therefore having train links – the minimum train
associated-rights-of-british-and-irish-citizens-if-there- journey between London and Scotland is about four
is-no-brexit-deal hours. Also available are sleeper services that allow
people to travel overnight and begin work early in
The similar lifestyle between Ireland and Scotland
the morning. The following links are for transport
can hopefully make transfers more palatable for
companies that operate in these islands.
employees should the need arise. Also, depending
on the regulatory environment, some daily or weekly
commuting may be appropriate or allowable. In fact For travel between
the Scots are used to this given a tradition of working Ireland and Scotland
in London for Scottish-based employees. Aer Lingus
There are a number of executive search and https://www.aerlingus.com/
recruitment agencies in Scotland and Ireland. We Ryanair
have been in contact with the following. https://www.ryanair.com/ie/en/
In Ireland British Airways
Robert Walters https://www.britishairways.com/
https://www.robertwalters.ie/banking-financial-
services.html For intra UK air travel
Easyjet
Morgan McKinley
https://www.morganmckinley.ie/ https://www.easyjet.com/EN
Quest FlyBE
https://www.questrecruitment.ie/ https://www.flybe.com
British Airways
In Scotland https://www.britishairways.com/
Eden Scott
www.EdenScott.com UK train services
Talent Scotland Virgin West Coast
Talent Scotland, part of Scottish Enterprise, works to https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/
help get people with the right skills in Scotland: London North Eastern Railway
https://www.talentscotland.com/ https://www.lner.co.uk/
Michael Page Scotrail
https://www.michaelpage.co.uk/jobs/banking-financial- https://www.scotrail.co.uk/
services/scotland
Caledonian Sleeper
Core Asset https://www.sleeper.scot/
http://www.core-asset.co.uk/
Irish rail services
Fletcher Jones www.irishrail.ie
https://www.fletcher-jones.co.uk
Hays
https://www.hays.co.uk/scotland/index.htmSCOTTISH IRISH FINANCE INITIATIVE - BREXIT READINESS RESOURCE On-the-ground government support Both governments in our experience are committed to helping companies exploit the Scottish Irish corridor in order to boost trade and overcome Brexit difficulties. Key contacts for both governments are Scottish Government representative office in Dublin (based in the British Embassy): https://www.sdi.co.uk/about-sdi/global-offices/europe- middle-east-and-africa/ireland-dublin Irish Consulate General Edinburgh: https://www.dfa.ie/irish-consulate/edinburgh/ More official information can be found here: https://www.prepareforbrexit.scot/ https://www.dfa.ie/brexit/ SIFI is supported by an informal advisory group chaired by Dr Frances Ruane which receives input from key stakeholders in industry and government in both jurisdictions. We have received funding from the Scottish Government and non-financial support from many stakeholders including the Scottish Government Innovation and Investment Hub in Dublin, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International, the Irish Consulate General in Edinburgh, Enterprise Ireland and our event partners PwC. While SIFI makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of its publications, it takes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Copyright Scottish Irish Finance Initiative 2019.
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