NatWest confirms plans to move HQ to London in the event of Scottish independence

A UK bank has announced today that it plans to move its headquarters to London if Scotland votes for independence.

NatWest Group, known as Royal Bank of Scotland until last year, said today (29 April) that it would move its headquarters out of Scotland in the event that the country votes for independence from the rest of the UK.

The company has been based in Edinburgh for 294 years, but said that the bank’s balance sheet would be “too big” for the country’s economy if it was independent.

The change in registered headquarters would not be expected to impact staff or customers at NatWest.

Alison Rose, CEO of NatWest, commented: “In the event that there was independence for Scotland our balance sheet would be too big for an independent Scottish economy.

“And so we would move our registered headquarters, in the event of independence, to London.

“We are neutral on the issue of Scottish independence. It’s something for the Scottish people to decide.”