June 1 (Reuters) - The chief executive of BAE Systems has told employees he was concerned about the impact onEurope's biggest defence contractor if Scotland breaks away fromthe United Kingdom, as a formal campaign for a Scottishindependence vote began on Friday, The Telegraph reported.
Ian King addressed the issue of uncertainty surrounding thepossibility of Scotland breaking away in an internal blog tostaff on Friday. (http://link.reuters.com/nyk79v)
King said that "if Scotland became independent, we would nolonger have that certainty and stability. We would then have totalk to our major UK customer, the Ministry of Defence, andjointly work out a plan for the future," according to the paper.
He said that Scottish independence would raise a range ofuncertainties, and added that given the many decisions thatwould need to be taken by governments in Westminster and inScotland, he could not be specific about the implications forBAE's business, employees, suppliers or customers.
King said the issue of pension schemes would be "especiallycomplex".
King said "if Scotland became independent and subsequentlyjoined the European Union, our pension schemes, along with manyother UK company schemes, may be caught up in EU regulationsrelating to cross-border pensions.
"The reality today is we cannot say how our pension schemeswould be affected. There would be a number of possible outcomesand we would use our consultation processes to discuss theoptions," he wrote in his blog.
Polls show Scots are unlikely to vote to quit the union,with roughly 40 percent against independence and 30 percent infavour. But there are still enough undecideds to swing the vote.
Edinburgh-based insurer Standard Life Plc andBritain's Royal Bank of Scotland have hinted aboutmoving some operations out of Scotland to protect themselvesfrom upheaval if Scots vote for independence.
Energy heavyweights Royal Dutch Shell and AggrekoPlc have also urged Scotland to stay in the UnitedKingdom.
Europe's biggest home improvements retailer Kingfisher Plc joined the chorus on Saturday and said that a vote forindependence from the United Kingdom would make Scotland a lessattractive place in which to invest. (Reporting by Aashika Jain in Bangalore; Editing by Eric Walsh)
