Q2 2025 continued as the year had started - at pace!  And with the UK Government’s publication of the Financial Services Growth Agenda in July, the pace of the change agenda has ticked up yet another notch – more on that next quarter!

We've enjoyed supporting our clients with a great variety of work, with Jamie Gray leading some exciting projects in the crypto space.

We’ve also been busy hosting and attending webinars, roundtables and events across the FS sectors, covering the key items of regulatory change. In May we hosted the SFE’s asset management strategy launch. The excellent panel session gave us food for thought on how we can continue to grow this sector in Scotland, including harnessing AI, developing skills and talent through our universities and transforming operational models for greater efficiency.

Along with my colleague Conall Grant, I had the pleasure of attending the SFE Parliamentary Reception, hosted by Daniel Johnson MSP and supported by Morgan Stanley. It's clear that financial services will continue to play a key role in the wider economy both in Scotland and across the UK - and we are here to help our clients on their own growth journey.

Pace is also the key phrase at the FCA - with Q2 seeing the FCA publishing many important consultations on new and updated rules across the sectors, such as Targeted Support and further proposals on the new Consumer Composite Investments regime. We also saw the start of the Consumer Credit Reform from HM Treasury.

In June Lynsey Whelan attended a Consumer Duty Alliance event, focusing on the evolution of financial planning and raising standards together, with a large turnout of financial advisers from across the UK. It was great to hear directly from the FCA, particularly in relation to foreseeable harms in the advice process, what this means for vulnerable customers and to learn about these issues through real life case studies.

We've detailed some of our upcoming events below, but please do let us know if you'd like us to host training or roundtables on a particular topic - we'd love to help!

Our clients range from major retail banks, investment managers and large life assurance companies, to the newest fintechs and other businesses for whom regulated activity is ancillary to their core activities. Whatever the challenge, we seize it with enthusiasm and take time, from the outset, to establish the commercial imperatives behind your legal requirements.

We’d love to have a chat over coffee to hear what’s going on in your organisation and so please do get in touch if you’d like to catch up, whether in Scotland, London or elsewhere!

For those of you off on holiday over the next few months, have a brilliant time whatever you get up to. This summer the Burness Paull Foundation is very proud to sponsor both the Scotland and England teams heading off to the Homeless World Cup in Oslo, part of our longstanding partnership with Street Soccer. As a trustee of the Burness Paull Foundation and a keen sports fan I’ll be cheering the teams on from home. Do tune in via YouTube and do the same – good luck to both teams!

Caroline Stevenson

HEAD OF FINANCIAL SERVICES REGULATORY