Because, err, Dubai is such an extremely democratic country where it is absolutely guaranteed that the government will jump in if you fail and where there is a large social security net in case your company goes bankrupt?
Really, Cyprus and Malta are not that different from Dubai, and neither is their business model. The difference is that Cyprus and Malta are part of a larger entity that guarantees certain things, such as human rights[0], reimbursement of up to 100k € if the bank goes bankrupt[1] and support for temporarily failing countries[2]. Oh, and the risk of Iran attacking Cyprus or Malta is surprisingly low as well.
[0] extradition to the US from the UK being one of the interesting things here.
[1] cf. the EU’s opposition to the Cypriot government’s original idea to just take n% from everybody.
[2] extra loans to Ireland, cheap money to Italy etc.pp.
Hey i'm not claiming it's a better place to live in. The point is, businesses are mobile nowadays and europe is doing everything it can to scare them away.
That certainly depends on the business, and given sufficient political interest, it is rather easy, especially for an economic area as large as Europe, to shut out external businesses exploiting tax loopholes or subsidies abroad.
Really, Cyprus and Malta are not that different from Dubai, and neither is their business model. The difference is that Cyprus and Malta are part of a larger entity that guarantees certain things, such as human rights[0], reimbursement of up to 100k € if the bank goes bankrupt[1] and support for temporarily failing countries[2]. Oh, and the risk of Iran attacking Cyprus or Malta is surprisingly low as well.
[0] extradition to the US from the UK being one of the interesting things here.
[1] cf. the EU’s opposition to the Cypriot government’s original idea to just take n% from everybody.
[2] extra loans to Ireland, cheap money to Italy etc.pp.