U.S. financial services firms are stomping into Edinburgh and Glasgow faster than King Edward's British troops stormed the region 700 years ago. But no modern ancestor of William Wallace is lifting a sword to halt this invasion: The Americans are more than welcome.
U.S. companies have invested more than $1 billion in Scotland in the last five years, with new entrants including JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, TD Waterhouse, Bank of America and Bank of New York. Since 1998, U.S. financial services operations in Scotland surged 50 percent-while the economy and financial services in the U.K. grew only 10 percent and 22 percent, respectively-and 35 percent of that new growth is from American firms. Long-time residents Citibank and State Street positioned their pan-European institutional trust businesses here decades ago, discreetly expanding operations over the years.
"It's simple," says Greg McLelland, vp of Scottish Development International, a development agency with offices in Boston, Houston, San Jose, Chicago and Toronto. "Scotland offers a combination of IT skills and a big pool of skilled, experienced workers. It's a very powerful mix.that enables a high return." Lured by an advantageous regulatory climate, a favorable tax environment and a well-educated, English- speaking, affordable workforce, American financial services firms are flooding the two cities. The biggest draws are Glasgow's International Financial …
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