What happens if Brexit wins?

EU referendum: What happens if Brexit wins?

The referendum is the biggest decision Brits have faced in a generation. The last direct vote on the country's ties with Europe was in 1975.

1.   Prime Minister David Cameron would face huge pressure to resign. He is campaigning for Britain to stay in the bloc, but his Conservative party (and government) is bitterly divided over the issue. Fellow Conservative and former London mayor Boris Johnson leads the Brexit campaign and may be a candidate to succeed Cameron.

2.   The U.K. government, the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of England, Fed Reserve Chief Janet Yellen, President Obama and other world leaders have all warned that leaving the EU would hurt the U.K. economy -- the fifth biggest in the world. They're worried about the impact on trade. By leaving, Britain would lose its automatic right to trade freely with the rest of the EU, which currently buys about 45% of British exports. The EU is an even bigger market for British services, such as banking and insurance.

3.   Investment and employment may also suffer. Many U.S. companies are heavily invested in Britainand use it as a gateway to the rest of Europe. So they may scale back in the U.K.

4.   U.K. officials have said that up to 820,000 jobs could be lost if Britain leaves the EU. Several global companies have hinted they might shift jobs out of the U.K. The latest warning came fromJPMorgan (JPM) last week.

5.   One of the core principles of the EU is the free movement of people, which gives citizens of any member state the right to live and work in any of the 28 countries in the union. Those in favor of Brexit say leaving the bloc would allow the U.K. to decide which migrants to let in. But an exit from the EU would raise questions about the status of roughly 3 million people from other EU states who currently live in the U.K. Campaigners say they would be allowed to stay, but future EU migrants would likely need a visa.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/09/news/economy/eu-referendum-brexit-what-would-happen/