Standard Life & an independent Scotland

The big news this morning – not only in the world of financial services but also the main BBC headline – is that Standard Life could leave Scotland following a ‘yes’ vote on independence.

It has become the first major Scottish business to warn of the consequences of independence, describing the contingency plans it is putting in place should this happen and certain conditions not be met.

Standard Life has been based in Scotland for 189 years and employs around 5,000 people in the country.

When I started my career in financial services, I spent a year working for Standard Life in a regional office here in England, making regular trips to Edinburgh for meetings and training events.

This is very much a Scottish company with a proud Scottish history, serving customers across the UK and internationally.

They have now expressed “material concerns” about a number of unresolved issues ahead of the referendum in September. These concerns include currency, EU membership, financial services regulation, consumer protection and individual taxation.

Whilst it is no real surprise to hear such a large Scottish company with UK customers thinking about the future in this way, being the first to express such a public opinion is a bold move that is likely to anger those in both the yes and no camps.

For customers of Standard Life, a decision to leave Scotland would hopefully mean business as usual, although inevitably there would be some short-term disruption to service standards during any relocation.

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