66, No 1, International Monetary Fund, pp. 189-222, financial centre economies are selected on the basis of their ratios of external assets and liabilities to GDP. Among the euro area Member States, this group includes Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Netherlands.
It may not be widely recognised that Ireland, through what is no longer formally called the IFSC, is the 15th largest international financial centre in the world according to tabulations by the IMF. No wonder it needs substantial staff resources to be sufficiently regulated. In this case it is not just a question of doing enough, but of being seen to do enough.