Like nature's ecosystems, Indian finance at first appears highly complex, a perception exploited by IO officials, who ‘delight[ed] in the lucidity of mystification’, aware that the financial labyrinth that constituted their work acted as a cloak, shrouding their activities from criticism. In reality, the world of Indian finance was a surprisingly small one, comprising no more than a hundred individuals and institutions, and relatively straightforward. It can perhaps be best understood through the prism of principal-agent theory and the concepts of trust, the gift economy and enlightened self-interest. Principal-agent theory postulates that all agents possess two interests – that of their principal, which is to fulfil the task for which they were retained, and their own self-interest – and argues that many agents are tempted to pursue their own interests to the detriment of those of their principal, a practice termed moral hazard. One way principals can counter this self-interested behaviour is through the employment of agents they already know through family, social, network or business connections and with whom they establish close long-term trust relationships. Such agents will be less willing to act selfishly, as, in doing so, they will not only lose the emotional pay-offs they gain from their relationship with their principal and any future gains from the association, but will also damage their family, social, network or business reputations, reducing the chances that others will trust/ associate with them. One method of building trust relationships is through the provision of gifts.