Clarity on a separate Scotland is vital says SFE chief

ALEX SALMOND was warned last night that uncertainty over independence could have a “profound” effect on Scotland’s financial services sector.

Mark Tennant, chairman of industry body Scottish Financial Enterprise, said companies need to know whether Scotland will remain part of the European Union if it breaks away from the other parts of the UK.

He said the industry also needed to know what currency a separate Scotland would use and which body would become the country’s central bank.

Tennant, who is a senior adviser to American investment bank JP Morgan, said that the regulation of the sector was another key issue that needed to be addressed.

He told SFE’s annual dinner that it had a “long-standing neutrality on party political matters” but warned that the electorate needed answers on these issues before a referendum which the SNP government has promised before the end of the current parliament in 2016.

Tennant told the audience: “We need to know before a decision is taken whether, post independence, Scotland would be a member of the EU. I appreciate the political difficulties and I recognise the competing claims made on this subject.

“But for our industry, and I suspect many others, the consequences of uncertainty as the country approaches a referendum would be profound. Similar questions arise in relation to currency, the identity and governance of the central bank, regulation and other matters.”

His comments come just weeks after Chancellor George Osborne enraged the SNP by claiming international businesses were questioning whether to invest in Scotland because of uncertainty surrounding the independence referendum. The SNP hit back, accusing the Chancellor of “talking down Scotland”.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said last night: “Legal, constitutional and European experts have all confirmed an independent Scotland will continue in EU membership.

“Scotland would not be a new part of the EU and the issue of the euro would be decided by a referendum of the people of Scotland. All the issues – including financial regulation – have been detailed in Scottish Government publications.”

Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM) last night picked up the 2011 Scottish Financial Services Award – for which The Scotsman is media partner – for developing its business in Asia and giving customers access to Chinese government bonds.

AAM finance director Bill Rattray collected the prize on behalf of chief executive Martin Gilbert, who could not attend. Speaking before the dinner, Gilbert said: “This award is a tribute to a real team effort over many years. Aberdeen was one of the first asset managers to establish an operation in Asia nearly two decades ago.”

Accountancy firm Johnston Carmichael received a special commendation for its work with small businesses.

Peter Wallace, head of financial services in Scotland at accountancy firm Ernst & Young, which sponsored the award, said: “AAM has built a truly worldwide organisation, extending and strengthening Scotland’s influence across the globe.”