Types of arbitrage

Depository receipts

A depository receipt is a security that is offered as a "tracking stock" on another foreign market. For instance a Chinese company wishing to raise more money may issue a depository receipt on the New York Stock Exchange, as the amount of capital on the local exchanges is limited.

These securities, known as ADRs (American Depositary Receipt) or GDRs (Global Depositary Receipt) depending on where they are issued, are typically considered "foreign" and therefore trade at a lower value when first released. However, they are exchangeable into the original security (known as fungibility) and actually have the same value. In this case there is a spread between the perceived value and real value, which can be extracted.

Since the ADR is trading at a value lower than what it is worth, one can purchase the ADR and expect to make money as its value converges on the original. However there is a chance that the original stock will fall in value too, so by shorting it you can hedge that risk.

Regulatory arbitrage

Regulatory arbitrage is where a regulated institution takes advantage of the difference between its real (or economic) risk and the regulatory position.

For example, if a bank, operating under the Basel I accord, has to hold 8% capital against default risk, but the real risk of default is lower, it is profitable to securitise the loan, removing the low risk loan from its portfolio. On the other hand, if the real risk is higher than the regulatory risk then it is profitable to make that loan and hold on to it, provided it is priced appropriately.

This process can increase the overall riskiness of institutions under a risk insensitive regulatory regime, as described by Alan Greenspan in his October 1998 speech on The Role of Capital in Optimal Banking Supervision and Regulation.

Online advertising arbitrage

Online ad services like Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google Adwords allow you to purchase online advertisements which cost you an agreed upon cost per click. These are known as PPC (Pay Per Click) ads. Some ad clicks will cost advertisers $0.01 while some can cost well over $10 depending on the keywords that were associated with the ad.

Yahoo and Google both have programs which allow web publishers (aka owners of websites) to place ads on their own websites to make money.

Some webmasters will make a website associated with a high paying keyword(s) and place PPC ads on it. Then, they will purchase low cost ads on Yahoo and Google for their websites. The end effect is traffic arbitrage. Low cost traffic is redirected towards pages which contain high paying links. Enough money is made from clicks to cover the traffic cost and turn a profit...

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