A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at high interest rates to individuals, often backed by blackmail or threats of violence. Throughout history, usury laws made loan sharks commonplace. Many moneylenders skirted between legal and extra-legal activity. In the recent western world, loan sharks have been a feature of the criminal underworld, but are otherwise rare. Loan sharks are common in the UK and among the Italian Cosa Nostra and Triads in China. History The phrase "… (More on Loansharking)