When asked about their company financial statements, 59 percent of the CPAs surveyed reported having complex financial instruments such as mortgage-backed securities, interest rate swaps or other derivatives on their company balance sheets. 

Of those respondents with complex financial instruments on their books:

• 69 percent expect financial instruments to become more complex (57 percent slightly more complex, 12 percent substantially more complex) over the next one to three years, compared with 1 percent who expect them to decrease in complexity.
• 53 percent believe there is not enough market awareness of complex financial instruments to prevent a financial crisis, compared with only 22 percent who believe there is adequate awareness.
• 55 percent said they are concerned about the valuation of derivatives with 6 percent reporting significant concern and 49 percent reporting slight or moderate concern.
• 56 percent said it would be easier to determine the value of complex financial instruments if they were measured and reported on a consistent and transparent basis.

Complex financial instruments historically have been difficult to value. That difficulty is seen as a major cause of the financial crisis that lead to the recession of 2008. The derivatives market exceeded $594 trillion in 2018. More than a quarter (28 percent) of respondents said they expect financial instruments to take a larger percentage of their balance sheets over the next one to three years, while only 15 percent see that decreasing.

For more in­for­ma­tion, see the press release on the AICPA’s Web site.