Banking

So the Royal and other banks will Leave Scotland ?

Author / Creator: Scottish Currency Group

Media type: Article

Date published: 2021

Project Fear is like clock-work in bringing up the subject of the Royal Bank of Scotland, and asserting
that the bank will leave Scotland at the first hint of Independence.


How foreign ownership drains Scotland’s wealth

Author / Creator: Craig Dalzell

Media type: Research

Date published:

This paper examines data published by the Scottish Government on Scotland’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Income (GNI) which lays out the extend to which the profits from foreign-owned companies in Scotland are extracted outwith Scotland, how it is done and where the profits go.


What Kilts Might Reveal: A Discussion of Scottish Government Bonds, Part 1

Author / Creator: Iain Hardie

Media type: Article

Date published: 2023

Scotland could issue bonds


Survey on Local Bank Closures Across Scotland

Author / Creator: Tonie McKay

Media type: Report

Date published: 2018

The number of bank branches in Scotland has reduced by a third between 2010 and 2017


Let’s get Scotland’s banking right

Author / Creator: Common Weal

Media type: Video

Date published: 2021

Policies to get banking oriented to customer benefit rather than profit.  Pointers on how to establish and run a Scottish Central Bank.


Setting up a Scottish Banking System

Author / Creator: Peter Ryan

Media type: Policy Paper

Date published: 2020

A Scottish central bank will need to be set up to oversee the creation of a new Scottish currency. It will be the competent authority providing regulatory oversight of the banking system.


Scottish Reserve Bank

Author / Creator: Tim Rideout

Media type: Blog

Date published:

The Scottish Reserve Bank website attempts to clear up many of the deliberate myths surrounding the establishment of a new Scottish currency 


Let’s get Scotland’s banking right

Author / Creator: Common Weal

Media type: Video 2:09 minutes

Date published: 2020

Banking has lost its way, forgetting that it should be serving its customers and not exploiting them. But a mutually-owned People’s Bank can change this.

Video: 2:09 minutes


Scottish National Investment Bank

Author / Creator: Common Weal

Media type: consultation response

Date published:

The Scottish National Investment Bank must be a bank rather than a government body. It should be able to raise capital and to lend to organisations within the the government set guidelines.


Paying Our Way: The Case For A Scottish Payment System

Author / Creator: Peter Ryan

Media type: Policy Paper

Date published:

Scottish authorities could set up a  publicly owned, not-for-profit payment system which would reduce fees for banks, businesses and consumers as well as ensuring that more money is injected back into local economies. A secondary effect of this national payment infrastructure would be to make it significantly easier for an independent Scotland to launch its own currency.


Submission on the Scottish National Investment Bank

Author / Creator: Common Weal

Media type: consultation response

Date published:

A Scottish National Investment Bank should:

  • be a long-term structural intervention into the Scottish economy
  • be a source of finance which is tailored to public-good outcomes
  • accept any applications for lending or equity investment.
  • raise capital from sources other than government
  • have a balanced governance structure


Investment in Scotland: A Common Weal Approach

Author / Creator: Iain Cairns

Media type: Policy Paper

Date published: Septtember 2014

The UK’s growth has declined every decade since the deregulation and privatisation began in the 1980s. Private finance provides poor value for money.  The financial system in the UK  is not capable of delivering the kinds of economic and social outcomes people have a right to demand. Investment is what the UK lacks, not money.


Blueprint for a Scottish National Investment Bank

Author / Creator: Laurie MacFarlane

Media type: Policy Paper

Date published: 2016

A Scottish National Investment Bank should

  • support investment in infrastructure and SMEs
  • be publicly owned but operated independently
  • promote the highest levels of transparency and accountability.
  • allowed to raise funds on capital markets by issuing bonds


Banking for the Common Good: Laying the foundations of safe, sustainable, stakeholder banking in Scotland

Author / Creator: Gemma Bone

Media type: Policy Paper

Date published:

Not-for-profit “People’s Banks” should be established in Scotland’s regions to offer banking services to local people and business. These would be part of a “People’s Banking Network” A “Scottish National Investment Bank” would help establish these institutions by offering seed funding and structural support. 


Better Banking – A Public-Good Banking Network For Scotland

Author / Creator: Common Weal

Media type: Policy Paper

Date published:

A model which can enable communities to found their own local bank branch providing basic but essential services free of the risky “casino banking” of the private sector is presented.


Resilient Scotland; Part One

Author / Creator: Common Weal

Media type: Policy Paper

Date published: 2021

The Scottish National Investment Bank should act as a bank and capitalise from sources such as pension funds. It should lend to the public and the private sector.  Public procurement should have the public policy goal of supporting Scottish business and achieving the maximum number of manufacturing jobs.


Better than This

Author / Creator: Common Weal

Media type: Policy Paper

Date published: 2021

We must emerge from the Covid pandemic in a way that 
Fixes the problems raised by the crisis. 
Fixes the problems evident before the crisis and makes us resilient.
Implements a green new deal.
Establishes a new democracy. 
Begins a national care service.
Starts land reform.
Creates a housing revolution.
Controls our own energy.
Provides better banking
Focus on independence.