With 78 per cent of electorates reporting and Leave ahead at 51.6 per cent to Remain’s 48.4 per cent, the BBC has called the UK referendum for the Leave side.
Speaking in the lead-up to the referendum, UBS head of investment office UK, Bill O’Neill, said a vote to leave would have huge implications for the economic environment.
“Broadly speaking, a leave vote would usher in a whole climate of risk aversion,” he said. “We could see a fall of upwards of 7 to 8 per cent in the market in reaction to a leave outcome.”
Although the Leave and Remain campaigns were neck-and-neck prior to voting day, both market and voter surveys had put the Remain camp in the lead, with UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage conceding the Remain camp more likely to win.
“I hope I’m wrong, I hope I’m made a fool of,” said Mr Farage in a press conference earlier today, stating the government’s 48-hour extension to voter registration may have tipped the balance.
The UK will now need to commence a two-year negotiation with the EU to make arrangements for the exit, with the option to extend negotiations permitted only by a unanimous vote of remaining EU member nations.
