Executives from the Bank of America and the Royal Bank of Scotland have acknowledged Humza Yousaf's plan to issue Scottish Government bonds as they'll significantly raise Scotland’s international profile.
The First Minister announced at the SNP conference in Aberdeen that he'd be the first Holyrood leader to issue bonds, after the power was granted to the Scottish government in 2015.
The details of the plans have been limited since the announcement was made, though the amounts raised are expected to fund infrastructure projects.
It's also unclear when the first bonds will be issued, however bank leaders suggested they will encourage relationships with investors and debt providers as well as building Scotland’s credit rating.
Holyrood has a £450m annual borrowing limit and has a ceiling of £3b in total.
The Times reports those on the investor panel include Andrew Telfer, senior partner at fund manager Baillie Gifford, Angus Macpherson, the chief executive of merchant bank Noble & Co, Alexandra Basirov, the head of sustainable banking solutions in Europe, Middle East and Africa at Bank of America and Judith Cruickshank, the chairwoman of the Scotland board at RBS.
The panel recommended the bonds as a way of raising capital to support the country's transition to net zero.
Shona Robison, the deputy first minister, welcomed the recommendation of the panel and said: "It is important that we consider all means to attract investment and I have asked for due diligence work to begin with the aim of making the bonds available to the market by the end of the current parliamentary session.
"While the UK National Loans Fund provides a cost effective source of capital borrowing, the structures available are limited to us.
"This is why, after added flexibility was secured through the fiscal framework review, it is the right time to re-assess how we use our borrowing powers.
"Scotland is a country that is open to investment, and as part of a full, external due diligence process it is willing to open its public finances to the scrutiny of credit rating agencies.
"I look forward to setting out further detail alongside the Scottish budget in December."