Melonfool - At the risk of overwhelming MN members, but this is the briefest expantion I can give:
What regulators have almost universally failed to deduce is that 'MLM' racketeers have used the fact that they have not been investigated rigorously and closed down, as evidence that their 'income opportunities' must be viable and lawful.
In other words, the ignorance and resulting silence of regulators on the subject of 'MLM' has become a license to commit fraud, making the regulators a significant part of the problem, not the solution to it.
Yet, if UK legislators and regulators had had a deep understanding of 'MLM income opportunity' cultism, the 'MLM' front-companies would never have been allowed to be registered in the UK in the first place, and clear warnngs would have been issued to protect the public.
Let's face it, UK regulators are supposed to work for the UK public, not for US-based racketeers.
As soon as 'Amway' was allowed to continue 'trading' in the UK, its propaganda machine went into overdrive in countries like India, boasting that the company had been given a completely clean bill of health by the British government.
In reality, some senior British government officials knew how the 'Amway' racket had been functioning (only because it had been fully explained to them for free), but they only presented part of what they knew to a judge in a public interest civil bankruptcy petition. It's perfectly obvious from the judgement that was given, that Mr Justice Norris realized that 'Amway' was a running something very dubious, but which he didn't fully understand. Remember, 'Amway UK' had itself never declared a trading profit in 34 years, but around a billion dollars had been stolen via the allied advance fee fraud. Instead of applying common sense and ruling that if he didn't fully understand what lurked behind 'Amway,' what chance had the public, the judge (in ignorance of reality) ruled that 'Amway UK Ltd' didn't appear to be making much money and had voluntarily agreed to reform its activities. Therefore, the company could continue without any penalty.
It was a bit like catching one of team of burglars and putting him on trial, but the judge saying; we'll let him go without punishment, because he's not received much of the loot and, anyway, he's promised not to do it again.
I had been given assurances by senior officials that the SFO would be brought in only after 'Amway UK Ltd.' was closed, but this never happened.
Remember, 'Amway' voluntarily paid VAT on all internal transactions between itself and its 'distributors' in the UK, making it appear that these transactions were lawful 'retail sales' (based on value and demand) rather than unlawful losing investment payments (based on the false expectation of future reward) laundered as 'retail sales.' The UK government was, therefore, implicated in the 'Amway' fraud itself having received millions of pounds of tax payments derived from unlawful transactions.
Technical UK legislation has not been sufficiently well written to identify, and ban, this sophisticated version of a dissimulated closed-market swindle.
US regulators have issued general warning after general warning about 'business opporunity frauds'. Some 'MPLM' frauds have even been closed down, but this has again implied that some 'MLM income opportunities' are perfectly viable and lawful.
Remember, numerous legally-qualified US regulators have gone to work for law firms that have represented 'MLM' racketeers. Currently a former FTC Commissioner, Pamela Jones Harbour, is working for 'Herbalife.'