325 For information relating to the European Commission´s Solvency II directive, see page 11. Aegon may be required to increase its  statutory reserves and/or hold higher amounts of statutory capital for some of its products, which will decrease Aegon’s returns on  these products unless Aegon increases its prices. Other initiatives, such as by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors,  may create regulations that would increase capital and other requirements that would not be applicable to all carriers and create an  uneven competitive playing field. Changes in pension and employee benefit regulation, social security regulation, financial services regulation, taxation and the  regulation of securities products and transactions may adversely affect Aegon’s ability to sell new policies or claims exposure on  existing policies. For example, in Hungary, the mandatory pension business has been nationalized and therefore Aegon in Hungary has  liquidated its mandatory pension business. Similarly, in December 2013 the Polish parliament approved legislation to overhaul the  existing state pension system, which is a reason for Aegon to write down its intangible assets. In general, changes in laws and regulations may materially increase Aegon’s direct and indirect compliance and other expenses of doing  business and have a materially adverse effect on Aegon’s businesses, results of operations or financial condition.  It is possible that following a referendum in September 2014, Scotland may vote to become independent from the remainder of the  United Kingdom. Any actual changes would not take effect until after independence day, which based on Scottish Government  indications would not be until March 2016 at the earliest. The details of any changes are impossible to predict with certainty at  present, and will depend on post-referendum negotiations and agreements between the Scottish Government and other organizations  at UK and EU level. Independence could result in inter alia changes in the monetary system, currency, taxation, regulatory and legal  framework, and membership of the EU. Some possible outcomes of independence could have an adverse effect on Aegon UK's  business, financial condition and results of operations in the future. Aegon faces significant risks of litigation and regulatory investigations and actions in connection with Aegon’s activities as an insurer,  securities issuer, employer, investment adviser, investor and taxpayer, among others. Insurance companies are routinely the subject of litigation, investigation and regulatory activity by various governmental and enforcement  authorities, individual claimants and policyholder advocate groups, involving wide-ranging subjects such as transparency issues and the  charges included in products, employment or third party relationships, adequacy of operational processes, environmental matters,  anti-competition, privacy, information security and intellectual property infringement. In this context, Aegon refers to the unclaimed  property examinations that unclaimed property administrators and state insurance regulators performed of the life insurance industry in  the United States, including certain of Aegon’s subsidiaries. Among these were multi-state examinations that included the collective action  of many of the states. Additionally, some states conducted separate examinations or instituted separate enforcement actions in regard to  unclaimed property laws and related claims practices. As other insurers in the United States have done, Aegon Americas identified certain  additional internal processes that it has implemented or is in the process of implementing. Aegon Americas originally established reserves  related to this matter of approximately EUR 117 million. Like various other major insurers in the United States, Aegon subsidiaries in the  United States entered into settlements with insurance regulators regarding claims settlement practices. Certain examinations are still  ongoing. While Aegon believes the reserves it has established for these unclaimed property-related matters are adequate to cover  expected obligations, there can be no assurances that actual exposures may not exceed reserve amounts or that additional sources of  liability related to these examinations or other unclaimed property-related matters will not arise in the future. In addition, insurance companies are generally the subject of litigation, investigations and regulatory activity concerning common  industry practices such as the disclosure of costs, both costs incurred upon inception of the policy as well as over the duration thereof,  commissions, premiums and other issues relating to the transparency concerning certain products and services. In particular when  these costs and charges apply for or take effect over a longer duration, as is the case for many of Aegon´s products. In addition, many  of Aegon´s products offer returns that are affected by, among other things, fluctuations in equity markets as well as interest rate  movements. As a result, such returns may prove to be volatile and occasionally disappointing. From time to time this results in disputes  that lead to litigation and complaints to regulatory bodies. Complaints like these may lead to inquiries or investigations, regardless of  their merit. Legal and arbitration proceedings and regulatory investigations and actions may adversely affect Aegon’s businesses, results  of operations and financial position. The possibility of Scotland becoming independent from the remainder of the United Kingdom may affect Aegon UK’s results of  operations in the future.