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  Cyprus will now either become Russia's offshore tax haven (if it isn't already) or it will be the first of many to leave the euro. Why the meeja keep saying that an exit from the euro would be so painful is a mystery to me and I fail to grasp why exit should be more traumatic than entry. I would have thought it would be a blessed relief. Cyprus is a resilient nation: they recovered from the shock of the Turkish invasion in 1974 and they can recover from this, whichever way it pans out. At least they grow all they eat and drink (and more).
  
  A little cameo: in 1998 I worked for Barclays, based in Dubai, and was responsible (with others) for money laundering issues throughout the Near and Middle East (branches in Egypt, Cyprus and UAE, and clients in all the Arab states). One day I had to hop on a plane to Cyprus to meet a Russian 'VIP' customer who had pitched up at our Nicosia branch with $20 million in cash ($100 bills) with which he wanted to open an account.
  
  He got very upset when I told him that I didn't care how important he was (he was a board member of Gazprom), and even though he had proved his identity beyond any doubt I would not accept an initial deposit except via a SWIFT money transfer from a bank in his home country. I got huge flak for turning down such a big deposit but it proved to be a sound decision as he later ended up in jail in Moscow for embezzlement. I had several experiences with dodgy Russians in the Middle East but it's interesting that in almost all cases they were accompanied by Libyan minders.

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