Ugh. You really do need to read more carefully. The whole point is that the structure does have legitimate purposes beyond taxes. Verik wrote earlier that these structures are still being used today but with less than 1 year terms. What better signal do you need that there is some purpose to these products? Just because you can't imagine or understand the complexities doesn't mean there isn't a legitimate purpose.

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You assert that the risk profile on the derivative is the same as on the underlying. That's stupid and shows you don't know what you're talking about. An option on an equity has a different risk than the underlying equity. An option on a basket of equities also has a different risk profile than the basket itself.