Financial "structures"

in April 2016 when the Panama Papers story broke, some newspapers used the term "offshore financial structures." These "structures," of course, are schemes. Or — regardless of description — they're not physical.

The practice of refering to a financial whangle as if it were a physical object is within tradition — or is at most an extension of that tradition. Even the legacy terms for the practice of offshore banking — shelter, haven — show a propensity for description of the methods as physical. But that's just a natural way to get a handle on a concept.

The new terminology is almost adamant that its strategies are physical objects. A financial service offers "products" — vehicles, instruments, devices — using the jargon of manufacturing and construction.

Financial engineering...

Or machination....