And this is what the BIS tells us it shows:
"First, capital flows saw a phenomenal reversal in the wake of the recent crisis (lower panels), in particular out of the United States. Up to mid-2007, banks facilitated international capital flows out of Japan and the euro area as well as from Asian financial centres and oil-exporting countries. Banks routed these funds via offices in the United Kingdom and in Caribbean financial centres, ultimately transferring them to borrowers in the United States and in emerging markets. After the start of the crisis, the direction of many of the bilateral flows reversed, in part generated by capital movements back to the United Kingdom, and in part reflecting asset writedowns.
Second, and more important, cross-border banking is very concentrated in a few locations (top panels). That is, a large chunk of the world’s cross-border banking business is booked (or has a counterparty) in the United Kingdom and a few other key banking centres."
