Scotland has four choices for its currency if it leaves Great Britain, says law firm Burness Paull.
It could retain sterling in a formal currency union with Great Britain, which would “help preserve the integrity of the UK single market, particularly for financial services”, but this option has been rejected by the British government. It could retain sterling unilaterally, join the Euro, or adopt a new currency.
Rod MacLeod, banking and finance partner at Tods Murray, says the Bank of England could not prevent Scotland from continuing to use the pound, pegged to sterling, although it would retain monetary control.
If adopting the Euro is a precondition of joining the EU—it is not known if it would be, or even whether Scotland would have to re-join the EU—Scotland could negotiate an opt-out, like Sweden. However, MacLeod says: “It’s not that they couldn’t, it’s more that not many have.”
