The EU now has a bail-in law that allows any bank within the EU to confiscate deposits if it unilaterally decides that it’s in an “emergency” situation. This law was passed in 2014. Canada had already passed its bail-in law in 2013, and the US pre-empted the trend by passing its bail-in law in 2010—three years prior to the Cyprus theft. Cyprus was therefore the trial balloon to see if the banks and governments could pull off such a theft without causing rebellion. They were imminently successful and therefore opened the door for further confiscation.