Well…all is good with the world again…unless, of course, you happen to have an uninsured (over 100,000 euros) at the Un-Popular Bank of Cyprus…aka..Laiki Bank.

If you’re one of those unfortunate (undeserving) rich Russians…or more likely an equally undeserving rich Briton (there are a lot of them with Cypriot accounts, too), then you’ve just been subjected to the worst kind of wealth distribution…that is, stealing from the rich to support the richer…the bankers, of course.

Who knows how much of their money will need to be “redistributed” to meet the debts of this “bad” bank but if I were an account holder, I’d not be feeling too chipper this morning.

Of course, this is the bureaucrats’ way of sending a stark message to those evil souls who chance their arm in tax havens, especially those in or around the Eurozone.  ”We are coming to get you”…is their war cry.

The Britons may be a forgiving lot but the Russians aren’t.  It could be a long cold winter for the Euros come November.

So, what is a tax cheating, money laundering scoundrel to do these days?  I have no idea but I suspect that their confidence in so-called tax havens has diminished substantially since this latest scare.  Perhaps, ultimately, it will not be in governments, but in gold, that they put their trust.

As for the Cypriots, I think that they can kiss their offshore banking business a mournful “dasvidaniya”!  Olives anyone?