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Scottish independence: City traders and Bank face long night on alert

Trading rooms are calling in extra staff to cover the results of Scotland's vote

Thursday 18 September 2014 12:49 BST

An arrangement of Scottish pound sterling banknotes and pound coins showing the thistle of Scotland (GETTY IMAGES)

Bankers, traders and the technocrats at the Bank of England and the Treasury are gearing up for the busiest day since the heights of the global financial crisis as the market awaits the Scottish referendum result in the early hours of tomorrow.

With the result expected at any time between 4am and 8am, City staff are being drafted in for extra long shifts to allow clients to trade in 24-hour markets like the pound.

Bank of England employees will be preparing statements to calm the markets in the event of a Yes vote, monitor any possible capital flight and keep an eye on the robustness of British banks’ systems; the Treasury would also be likely to make an early statement, as would the Department of Business, while Lloyds and RBS would confirm their plans to move their registered office address to London.

The Bank’s Governor, Mark Carney, will arrive at Threadneedle Street tonight, having flown in from Australia, where he has cut short his attendance at a G20 meeting of finance ministers.

Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

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1/7Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

The 2015 General Election

If it votes for independence, Scotland won’t leave the union until 2016 meaning, under current arrangements, that if Scots decide to go it alone they will still vote in the 2015 general election. The possibility of Scotland swinging the vote in favour of the government with which it will negotiate their independence has led some to call for the elections to be delayed. Downing Street has said, however, that it has no plans to postpone the election despite claims a yes vote could lead to a constitutional crisis.

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Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

The NHS

Alex Salmond has said a Yes vote in the referendum is the only way to save Scotland’s National Health Service. This claim was undermined, however, yesterday when research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies determined that Scotland’s devolved government spent less in real terms on its health service than England. Despite this, the splitting up of the NHS would be more straightforward than other institutions, as it is already managed from Holyrood.

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Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

The BBC

The Licence fee in Scotland currently raises around £230m which the Yes campaign says it would use, along with the assets of BBC Scotland, to create a Scottish Broadcasting Service or SBS. It says the SBS would continue to provide original content to the BBC and Scotland would receive access to all current programming, including BBC1, BBC2 and national radio stations. The government has said since February that an independent Scotland would lose any automatic rights to BBC programming.

Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

The Pound

The No Campaign is hoping that doubts over whether or not Scotland will be able to keep the pound will sway the referendum in its favour. George Osborne has said that the UK will not let Scotland keep the pound if it votes to leave the union and the leader of the Better Together coalition, former Chancellor Alistair Darling, has called the Yes campaign’s suggestion that it keep the currency “mad”. Alex Salmond has claimed repeatedly that Scotland will be able to retain the pound and has said speculation to the contrary is little more than fear mongering.

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Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

The Army

Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war and the stationing of the Trident Nuclear fleet north of the border are unpopular in Scotland. The Scottish Nationalists have railed against the war saying they would scrap Trident and create a new Scottish defence force based on existing Scottish regiments.

Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

The Royal Family

Scotland would keep the Queen as a head of state under current plans proposed by the Yes campaign, as Elizabeth Queen of Scots. It would also remain part of the Commonwealth. However a second referendum could be held to determine what form a new Scottish state would take.

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Scottish independence: What will happen to key British institutions?

Sport

Scotland’s Rugby and Football teams would remain as they are if Scotland voted to leave the UK but the British and Irish Lions could be forced into a name change. What would happen to the British Olympic Association also remains up for debate. Scotland’s most successful Olympian Sir Chris Hoy has said he is wary of independence because of the number of Scottish athletes living and training in England and what their status would be.

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Credit Suisse is among banks keeping its sterling trading teams in all through the night in London: “Normally, they would hand over to their colleagues in the US and then on to Asia, but we will have these traders in overnight,” said a spokesman. “It’s about being able to service clients effectively … as well as managing our own positions.”

Claude Goulet, HSBC’s foreign exchange and commodities sales head, said it too was extending coverage in London: “We are planning for a later shift on Thursday night and an earlier shift on Friday morning.”

There are no plans to change the 8am start time to trading on the London Stock Exchange.

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