regulatory arbitrage.....................

 

     It is a curious fact that the earliest known set of laws, Hammurabi's Code, which dates back to around 1750 BC, is largely concerned with the regulation of interest.  The Babylonian king codified existing credit practices with the customary interest rates set in stone—quite literally, since the Code survives for posterity engraved in cuneiform script on a basalt stele. . . .

     Drawing up financial regulations is one thing but getting people to follow the spirit of the law is another matter.  What we call 'regulatory arbitrage'—namely, the attempt by financial practitioners to evade regulation—turns out to be as old as the law itself.

-Edward Chancellor, The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest