SNP growth report says independent Scotland can keep sterling but admits banks would move

The SNP‘s long awaited growth commission report which has been published today and is expected to signal the first moves for the party in re-opening the independence debate in Scotland, has conceded that it is to be expected that a number of Scottish banks would move their headquarters to London as a result of Scotland breaking away from the UK.

The report says banks with Scottish headquarters, which would be regulated by a new Scottish Central Bank and the new Scottish Financial Authority (SFA) , would “ring-fence” their retail and commercial operations in a similar way to which they are done in the UK.

“It is anticipated that a number of banks may re-domicile their registered headquarters to London,” the document says before adding: “A substantial part of the executive functions of these banks is already in London and so there would be a very limited impact on operational activity.”

The growth commission, headed by economist and former SNP MSP Andrew Wilson, was set up by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in September 2016 as part of a “new conversation” on independence in the wake of the Brexit vote.

She later “reset” her drive for a second referendum after the SNP suffered losses in the 2017 general election, but has today taken delivery of the report.

The 354-page analysis document, which can be read in full here, also says that an independent Scotland would keep the pound for at least 10 years as per its proposals, although this would be done without a formal currency union between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

The report says the country could then potentially then move towards introducing its own currency if a series of economic tests were met.

It explains that a “future choice to establish a Scottish currency could be considered” once the economy was “on track to the sustainable high-performance position our ambitions require”.

But the report adds that “unless those tests were met and a decision to change was made, our currency would remain the pound sterling”.