Scotland or not Scotland

Royal Bank of Scotland has confirmed it will relocate its registered headquarters to London if Scotland votes for independence next week.

The bank said in a statement that it believed it would be "necessary to re-domicile the bank's holding company".

In a letter to staff, the bank's chief executive said there was no intention to move operations or jobs.

Meanwhile, Scotland's largest fund manager's boss said an independent Scotland would be a huge success.

Martin Gilbert, chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management said: "I think an independent Scotland would be a big success, but it is a secret ballot and I will abide by that.

"Most sensible people now accept that Scotland would be prosperous with either outcome in the current constitutional debate."

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond told BBC Scotland he had been given a letter which was sent to RBS staff on Thursday morning by the bank's chief executive Ross McEwan.

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“Start Quote

This is a technical procedure regarding the rotation of our registered head office based on our current strategy and business plan. It is not an intention to move operations or jobs”

End Quote Ross McEwan RBS chief executive

Mr Salmond said the letter had stated: "It is my view as chief executive that any decision to move our registered headquarters would have no impact on our everyday banking services used by our customers in Scotland.

"This is a technical procedure regarding the rotation of our registered head office based on our current strategy and business plan. It is not an intention to move operations or jobs".

The bank has been based in Scotland since 1727.

Companies are increasingly setting out their post-referendum contingency plans.

Lloyds Banking Group said it could also shift its legal home to its headquarters, which is already in London.

However, Lloyds said this was just a legal procedure and "there would be no immediate changes or issues".
'Brass plaques'
The statement from Lloyds said: "Lloyds Banking Group has seen an increased level of enquiries from our customers, colleagues and other stakeholders about our plans post the Scottish referendum.

"While the scale of potential change is currently unclear, we have contingency plans in place which include the establishment of new legal entities in England. This is a legal procedure and there would be no immediate changes or issues which could affect our business or our customers.

"There will be a period between the referendum and the implementation of separation, should a Yes vote be successful, that we believe is sufficient to take any necessary action."

Lloyds, in which the UK government has a 25% stake, owns Bank of Scotland and Halifax.

The move of what Lloyds describes as "legal entities" indicates that the banking group is not suggesting there will be a mass relocation of its 16,000 Scottish-based staff. The move would simply mean that the bank would remain protected and regulated by the Bank of England.

Responding to the announcements by RBS and Lloyds, Mr Salmond said: "We know the moves both from Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland will have no impact on operations or jobs. They are about brass plaques.

"These are contingency plans and they make it quite clear in the statements that they make.

"And the way to avoid any uncertainty in the financial markets is for the United Kingdom to say, following the Edinburgh agreement which they signed, that they will sit down reasonably with the Scottish government after people in Scotland vote Yes in the referendum, and discuss these matters in the best interests of Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom."
Commercial presence
Mr Salmond also denied uncertainty in the markets was caused by the Scottish government's stance on a shared currency.

He added: "Any uncertainty we have seen in the financial markets over the last two days is caused by two things. One is the unreasonable posture of the UK government who have refused to discuss this at any stage throughout the last two years.

"And secondly, the remarkable statement from Downing Street on Monday when they were facing stock market moves, where they said they had no contingency plans for Scottish independence."

Elsewhere, John Lewis chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield claimed shoppers in Scotland could face higher prices if the country votes in favour of independence.

Sir Charlie said the retailer had no intention of reducing its commercial presence north of the border, where it has nine shops, a contact centre and employs more than 3,000 people.

But he cautioned that firms were unlikely to continue sharing the burden of higher operating costs in Scotland across all UK customers in the event of the break up of the Union.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "From a business perspective there will be economic consequences to a Yes vote, not just in uncertainty but some of the turmoil we are hearing about.

"And it is also the case that it does cost more money to trade in parts of Scotland and therefore those hard costs, in the event of a Yes vote, are more likely to be passed on."

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Lloyds would move its legal home to its head office, which is already in London - and that's unlikely to have much impact on Scottish employment”

End Quote Robert Peston BBC economics editor

But he added: "On the day after the referendum the shops are going to open on time, nothing will change."

Angus Grossart, chairman of merchant bank Noble Grossart, said that people should "not panic" following the decisions made by the two banks. He told the Financial Times that the impact of a Yes vote was "severely overstated".

BBC economics editor Robert Peston said that that if RBS, 81%-owned by the UK government and which owns 11,500 people in Scotland, moved its head office and registered office to London it "would involve some jobs moving south".

However, he said the situation with Lloyds was different: "Lloyds would move its legal home to its head office, which is already in London - and that's unlikely to have much impact on Scottish employment."

A Treasury source told the BBC that it had discussed the plans with RBS.

On Wednesday, insurance and pensions giant Standard Life said it was "planning for new regulated companies in England to which we could transfer parts of our business if there was a need to do so".

Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander told BBC2's Newsnight: "When a company like Standard Life says that it would, unfortunately, sadly, have to relocate its business to London that is not some sort of decision that they make lightly.

"They make it on the basis that they regard that as the best way to protect their customers under the new circumstances.

"When we hear Lloyds and other banks making clear that they would have to do the same, again that is not something that they say lightly. They say it having thought about it, having talked to their board and to the senior people in those companies."

And Mr Grossart, one of the most senior figures in Scotland's financial establishment, said people were "overreacting" to the threats of exodus of firms.

"I think it is getting out of hand," he told the Financial Times. "To hear some of the comments you almost expect people to be predicting a plague of locusts or mice next."  BBC