Blueprint for a Scottish National Investment Bank

Primary Author or Creator
Laurie MacFarlane
Additional Author(s) / Creators
Common Weal, New Ecconomics Foundation
Type of Resource
Policy Paper
Alternative Published Date
2016
Fast Facts

― The SNIB’s overarching mandate should reflect a broader economic strategy developed in a democratic process, controlled by the Scottish Government, and reviewed periodically.

― The core activities of a SNIB should be to support investment in infrastructure and SMEs and to direct investment towards innovation for social and environmental objectives.

― The SNIB should be publicly owned but operated independent as a fully commercial entity, free of day-to-day political interference.

― Robust ownership and governance structures should be put in place which promote the highest levels of transparency and accountability.

― The Scottish Government should inject £225 million of capital, increased to at least £1.35 billion over six years.

― The SNIB should be allowed to raise funds on capital markets by issuing bonds up to a leverage of 2.5 times its subscribed capital.

― The Scottish Government should request that the UK Government grant SNIB dispensation from Treasury rules which would otherwise mean that SNIB lending counts against Scottish Government borrowing limits.