Scotland's independence referendum set for 18 September 2014

The First Minister announced the date to the Scottish Parliament today as he presented to it the Scottish Independence Referendum Bill which set out some of the procedural details of the campaigning and voting.

Independence for Scotland could affect many companies. They will have to review the implications of independence for their own businesses, said a public policy expert.

"Energy, infrastructure, finance services, the creative industries, universities and life sciences are all key sectors in the Scottish economy and now have 547 days to examine the details and consider the implications of an independent Scotland for their operations here," said Alastair Ross, a public policy expert with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.

"The Scottish Government is publishing its policy proposals for energy and the low carbon economy, financial services, transport, and defence and security between now and November when it will produce its White Paper on Scottish independence. During this period the UK Government is also generating papers making the case for Scotland remaining within the UK and the benefits for these same sectors," he said.

"This will give us some of the materials required to carry out the due diligence on such a fundamental change, but some of the major questions such as an independent Scotland's membership of the European Union, the regulatory framework for business, or the currency and monetary policy arrangements will still be unresolved on September 18 2014," said Ross.