Usually when people talk about "complicated financial products" they mean some kind of derivative. Yes, you can cook the books. That doesn't make the product c

Usually when people talk about "complicated financial products" they mean some kind of derivative. Yes, you can cook the books. That doesn't make the product complex. It is fair to point out that some tech IPOs (We work comes to mind) had pretty sketchy corporate structuring and stock classes. But I don't think there's any simpler financial product than equity. You can do the same kind of financial engineering with bonds. Do you really know what's in the covenant? Is there even a covenant to speak of? People have been getting burnt for decades now by companies finding creative ways to separate the collateral from the loan.