Over the past twenty years there has been a massive increase in the development of new financial instruments, many of which have been off-balance-sheet activities. These instruments have become increasingly complex, placing higher demand on both the purchasers and the creators of such instruments. The risks involved and the penalties paid by those who have not adequately understood these products are well known. This book discusses in detail, through a blend of theory and empirical research, the processes of innovation and the diffusion of new financial instruments. It relates the theoretical approaches to innovation to current practice,producing and testing models for innovation and the diffusion of new financial products.