Scottish independence

InvestInPoker

kangoora wrote: »

What about pension savings - mine is currently with Standard Life (subject to Scottish Law) and I'm damn sure I don't want it in a 'foreign' country where it could be liable to whatever taxes a Scottish parliament could dream up with the UK having no say in it. I'm starting a secondary pension arrangement soon and there is no way I am going to go with a provider that is based in Scotland, it's a risk I'm not prepared to accept.

.

I totally agree with this and I am Scottish. In the event of a Yes vote I am moving every penny I have (not that much granted but still) out of the Scottish banking system. My money is not being turned into euros or left at risk to new tax/banking defaults.

zagubov

InvestInPoker wrote: »

I totally agree with this and I am Scottish. In the event of a Yes vote I am moving every penny I have (not that much granted but still) out of the Scottish banking system. My money is not being turned into euros or left at risk to new tax/banking defaults.

Well as you have just said you're moving to England, are we supposed to be surprised by this?

When I moved to England 30 years ago I couldn't find any Scottish banks and there aren't that many Scottish building societies so moving my accounts was a no-brainer.

InvestInPoker

zagubov wrote: »

Well as you have just said you're moving to England, are we supposed to be surprised by this?

When I moved to England 30 years ago I couldn't find any Scottish banks and there aren't that many Scottish building societies so moving my accounts was a no-brainer.

Actually I have always used a Scottish bank as my main one and had no problems finding many of its branches when I last lived in England 15 years ago.

zagubov

kangoora wrote: »

This is probably going to come across as a bit of a rant but I'm genuinely curious how some of the things I mention will be resolved.

I'm really wondering how much this has been thought through by the Yes people. All I seem to see on the news is 'We will keep the pound, we want the NHS to stay the same, we will be fast-tracked into the EU' as if the UK or the EU has no say in the matter.

Independence doesn't mean to me you can pick and choose which bits of the UK infrastructure and economy you want to keep. If Scotland wants to be independent then they should be like Canada, India, Australia etc, make a complete break of it all, become part of the commonwealth but that's it.

The UK government (presumably), as Scotland will be an independent country, will they withdraw all UK Gov't civil service jobs, all central and regional funding (a few hundred million in rural broadband expansion alone), isolate and hand back the Scottish elements of things like the NHS, Army, Navy, RAF, Customs & Excise, BBC (are they going to switch off or hand-over all transmitters in Scotland?), move the nuclear submarine base back to UK, hand over share of National debt, withdraw all UK government contracts?

What about all those call centre jobs for UK based firms and especially government departments - are those jobs in Scotland going to be brought back to high unemployment areas in the UK to help our unemployment problem. Not much point the UK continuing to pay for jobs in an independent Scotland when we have unemployment here in UK.

What about Scottish people living in England - are they going to have to prove they are capable of supporting themselves under immigration rules?

What about pension savings - mine is currently with Standard Life (subject to Scottish Law) and I'm damn sure I don't want it in a 'foreign' country where it could be liable to whatever taxes a Scottish parliament could dream up with the UK having no say in it. I'm starting a secondary pension arrangement soon and there is no way I am going to go with a provider that is based in Scotland, it's a risk I'm not prepared to accept.

Admittedly I haven't been following the whole debate closely and some of these may have been answered already but if a Yes vote is announced I would be very surprised if the UK didn't take a very hard line on a lot of the above and that's just off the top of my head.

By heck, you're a worrier! My life insurance company used to be British but later became Australian and later Swiss. Frankly it's travelled the world more than I have and been to places I've never been, and I'm annoyed and jealous.

And I never felt I had to worry that it was foreign.

Plus at the end of world war 2 there were only about 50 countries. Since then about 150 more have split off, including almost 20 of them in Europe, and none have wanted to reunite. But you think Scotland's going to be one that'll be a disaster? What's going on?;)

Borrowedtune

His point, as I understand it, is that he doesn't want his savings left to the tender mercies of a foreign regulator and (potentially) subject to a tax grab by a foreign government. The fact that various UK-based (but frequently foreign owned) insurance, pension and banking companies buy each other out from time to time is irrelevant to this question, as the same regulations apply.


I currently have around 35% of my SIPP/ISA savings managed by companies based in Scotland, but I will be moving those funds to England in the event of a Yes vote (unless Aberdeen etc. announce they will be relocating the management of my money to England)

kangoora

That's the crux of it. What if in 15 years time Scotland needs a boost and they can raise a law taxing the assets of 'foreign' nationals. All that lovely money sat in finance institutions and it won't cost them a single vote - look at Cyprus.

Also, if full currency separation happens then any earnings and assets are going to be subject to foreign currency speculation and regulations potentially.

Not saying any of the above are likely but why take the risk when I can just move my pension to the UK and have full FCA coverage without having to worry about Scottish Law. Having read my SL brief it quite clearly States Scottish law applies to the company.

CLAPTON

ownership and regulation are different matters


however for my savings and pensions I would wish them to be in England


I would prefer they resided in a country that hasn't defaulted on a debt for many hundreds of years rather than a country that is threatening to default even before it is born.


Each person will have to make their own judgement. I'm sure many pro YES scots will move their own money out asap if a YES majority.

.string.

Capital Flight from Scotland will, I'm sure, be a reality if Scotland vote "Yes", my capital being one small part of it. I would be concerned not just about the security of the money due to poor performance of the Scottish economy but also the impact of Capital Flight itself on the Bank/Investment firm itself. We already see the seeds of a panic withdrawal in this very thread.

There is also the matter of Corporation Tax. In such a situation when the UK and Scotland were fighting (the SNP call it negotiation) for the spoils of separation, I would be averse to corporation tax on any business going to any country but the UK. This, unlike Capital Flight perhaps, does impact on where I keep my insurance. My first insurance comes due in March so I have plenty of time for that.

black_taxi_2

you forget independence is a gradual process.

NO campaign kept Devo + off ballot paper to kill nationalism,to quote Alistair Darling

devo + would have won a landslide

At the start polls were 25% YES

Unionists in their blind hate to kill nationalists,might have made biggest political mistake in history

even if YES vote is 45%,what will that do to future Westminster elections Scotland

Scots will remember Labour said NO currency union in our FACES

black_taxi_2

as investment goes I'd put Scotland as emerging market

Plenty will flow in,were a country rich in resources