Customers could force banks to quit Scotland
banks face being forced to abandon an independent scotland or risk losing nearly £300billion from English customers, figures show.
Two-fifths of clients from other parts of the Uk would pull their money out of scottish institutions if there is a Yes vote and no deal is struck to share the pound, according to a poll.
Currency exchange firm UkForex, which commissioned the YouGov survey, estimated scottish banks would lose £280billion if they did not move south of the border after independence. such a loss of business would be devastating, cutting their balance sheets by more than a third.
David nicholls, manager at UkForex, said: ‘Forty-five per cent of all respondents had money with scottish providers, and of those, two in five said they would be more likely to move their money south of the border if scotland lost the pound.
‘That’s a significant percentage of the assets managed by scottish financial institutions, currently more than £750billion.’
It is the latest economic blow to alex salmond’s separation bid, which has seen finan- cial bodies queue up to raise concerns. business secretary Vince Cable has already warned that Rbs would abandon its Edinburgh HQ and move to London after separation, a move that would result in the loss of 3,200 jobs north of the border.
Of 1,622 non-scots quizzed for UkForex, 42 per cent said they would be ‘more likely’ to move to an English bank, with 5 per cent saying they would be ‘less likely’ and 40 per cent saying it would make no difference.
Twice as many thought they would be worse off if scotland voted for independence than predicted a boost – 16 per cent compared to eight, while 56 per cent thought it would make no difference.
UkForex said currency was also a key issue for the English, Welsh and northern Irish who took part in its poll. More than half said scotland does not have a clear contingency plan should it lose the pound.
and in a sign that the Uk Government would find it hard to convince English voters to share the pound with an independent scotland, even if it wanted to, 53 per cent said they would oppose a currency union, with only 26 per cent in favour.
blair McDougall, better Together campaign director, said: ‘The fact that people living elsewhere in the Uk would remove their currency from scotland is worrying.
‘This would put thousands of scottish jobs at risk and be a disaster for our economy.’
alex salmond’s refusal to outline a currency Plan b, if the Uk Government refuses to share the pound, is also worrying busi- nesses. One leading law firm said the First Minister’s claim that George Osborne, Ed balls and Danny alexander are all bluffing when they rule out a currency union is not ‘credible’ enough for his clients.
Dr Hamish Patrick, of Tods Murray, said: ‘The Yes campaign say the Uk parties are bluffing when they say they won’t agree a currency union. Whether or not that is true, my clients have been left in limbo by both the Yes and no campaigns as they cannot make business decisions based on a currency union being in place. My clients need a Plan b.’
Last night, the scottish Government insisted it would be allowed to keep the pound.