[buboard]

The EU has plenty of tax heavens and satellite states. Some exist to serve the old rich (luxembourg, monaco) and others chose that path because, unless you are already a rich country, capital in EU is sparse, which further leads to brain drain. That's how countries like ireland and cyprus manage to recover faster than others.

I can't say if the latest regulations have really made an impact. They have surely made banking in EU a lot more bureaucratic and a lot more expensive for a small business.