I’ve heard stories of people saying things like “at our (highest) levels, we only talk face to face, and then as little as possible.”

It wasn’t about regulation, but protectionism. If you want to do business with us, you need to hire people to deal with us - people we approve of, or no access.

This was in an unregulated industry, with strong protectionist instincts (Hollywoods movie industry).

Couldn’t these sorts of “in person only” rules also be a protectionist gatekeeping technique?