Innovation. The word is evocative of ideas, products and processes which have somehow made the world a better place. In the frothy days leading up to the global financial crisis, many viewed financial innovation as unequivocally falling into this category. Underpinning this view was a pervasive...

The global financial crisis has exposed the complexity of modern financial markets. One of the primary drivers of this complexity has been financial innovation. From sub-prime mortgages, securitization and credit default swaps to sophisticated quantitative models for measuring and managing risk,...