On Thursday, Scotland will take to the polls to determine whether it wants to break off from the United Kingdom. And while even a vote in favor would simply be the beginning of a long and extremely complex process, all of a sudden, markets are paying rapt attention to the potential outcome.
The upcoming Scotland vote has led investors to sell shares of Scottish companies, place bearish bets on the British pound—and worry about the widespread implications of the potential Scotland split-off.
"If you have investments in the U.K., you should be very much concerned," said Oliver Harvey, macro strategist at Deutsche Bank. "A 'yes' vote has big implications for U.K. growth and big implications for investments. And if you have assets in Scotland, all of the sudden they're not under the same tax or regulatory regime."
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