THE chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise has told MSPs that the country’s financial services firms will face big challenges following the Brexit vote and highlighted the importance of them retaining access to the single European market.

Graeme Jones said the decision to leave the EU could see banks and the like forced to surrender the strong positions they currently enjoy in key export markets on the continent as a result of the UK belonging to the union.

The vote called into question the ability of firms in Scotland to benefit from the passporting system, under which Mr Jones said they can sell across the EU effortlessly.

“Some of our members who have operating models that absolutely have integral to their underlying operating model passporting would be hugely affected,” Mr Jones told the Scottish Parliament’s economy committee.

He added: “On the basis that we’re coming out of the EU we need the next best proxy to the existing EU agreements … It’s very important that passporting rights are protected.”

Mr Jones said the finance industry trade body has been lobbying ministers to ensure that the interests of firms in Scotland are reflected in the negotiations over the UK’s future relations with the European Union.

Scotland is home to a wide range of financial services firms, which support 226,000 jobs in the country.

He underlined the degree of uncertainty which has been triggered by the Brexit vote given the need to determine the future of the mass of regulations and trading relationships which the UK is party to as a member of the union.

“How this is unpicked for us is very important because the devil is in the detail,” said Mr Jones.

However, he predicted the scale of employment could be maintained if firms respond effectively to the challenges posed by market changes that are being driven by factors such as the emergence of digital technology.

Scotland has the opportunity to become a leader in the field of financial technology amid growing demand for products such as banking apps. But firms need to move fast or risk rivals in places like Dublin stealing a march on them.