Legal heavyweight Pinsent Masons getting on board at Fintech Scotland

0 Yvonne Dunn is a financial services tech specialist Law firm Pinsent Masons has been appointed as a global “strategic partner” to industry enabler Fintech Scotland.

Established by the Scottish Government, the financial services sector and the University of Edinburgh, Fintech Scotland is formulating a national strategy to drive for- ward the financial technology sector north of the Border.

The sector has attracted tens of millions of pounds in investment in recent years and is home to companies such as Nucleus, Sharein, Lendingcrowd, izettle and Money Dashboard.

Yvonne Dunn, a partner and financial services technology specialist at Pinsent Masons, which will sit on the board of Fintech Scotland, said that to date London has been the preeminent location for fintech in the UK, but the race is on to increase its presence outside of the UK capital.

She said: “Scotland has a lot to offer fintech based on the large financial services institutions already established here, our general culture of entrepreneurism and the strength of our universities sending top-rated computer science graduates into the market.

“Fintech is disrupting global markets, it is a growth industry with massive potential, and it is an emerging sector in which Scotland has an opportunity to play a key role.

“We are looking forward to deploying our skills and experience to help develop a strategy which creates fantastic job opportunities, generates growth and attracts the brightest talent the sector has to offer.”

Other strategic partners announced by Fintech Scotland chief executive Stephen Ingledew include Deloitte, Dentsu Aegis Network and Sopra Steria. David Ferguson, the founder and chief executive of Nucleus Financial, has been appointed to chair the Fintech Scotland board.