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Showing Original Post only (View all)RBS will leave Scotland if voters back independence [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Royal Bank of Scotland has drawn up plans to shift its head office from Scotland where it has been based since 1727 in the event that next week's independence referendum backs a break away from the rest of the UK.
The announcement followed news that Lloyds Bank would also move its head office to England and a warning that mortgage lenders are preparing to restrict lending in the event of a yes vote as concerns deepen over the currency that an independent Scotland would use.
Treasury sources had indicated on Wednesday night that such a move by RBS was likely after the other bailed-out bank with major operations in Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, revealed it too would set up legal entities in England to protect its credit rating.
The moves by the banks, which received £65bn of taxpayer bailouts in 2008 and 2009, follows a warning by another pillar of the Scottish financial community Standard Life that it would shift business to England. BP has also spoken of its concerns.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/sep/11/rbs-will-leave-scotland-yes-vote