I think they would have done this type of structuring anyway just because of what the parent comments have mentioned. But this is probably required by local laws just to be allowed to operate in the jurisdiction(s).

I'd be shocked if many EU nations required domestic incorporation just to do legal/regulatory/consulting business there. Plenty of other multinational corps operate under their primary company.

But it could be the case!

What I suspect happened with Deloitte specifically is they found a way to appear to expand globally without taking on a lot of the risk. More like brand franchising.

Which is all to say that I wouldn't doubt Deloitte Cyprus (or other branches) have shady stuff going on, but that this structure wasn't designed specifically for that purpose.