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Special purpose vehicle  (SPV) - Financial definition

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Translations:      FR  entité à vocation particulière (n.f.) , entité ad-hoc (n.f.) , véhicule de titrisation (n.m.)     ES  entidad con cometido especial (n.f.) , entidad con fines especiales (n.f.) , sociedad instrumental (n.f.)     DE  Zweckgesellschaft (n.f.) 
Synonym:  special purpose entity

Concise definition of the term special purpose vehicle

A special-purpose vehicle is a legal entity created to fulfill a delimited, specific and often temporary objective. They are typically used by companies or financial institutions to isolate them from financial risk.

Comprehensive definition of the term special purpose vehicle

In finance, a frequent use is the set-up of special-purpose vehicle by corporations or financial institutions which want to securitize assets. The role of the SPV is to acquire those assets from the corporation or bank, and use them as collateral to the securities it issues in order to finance the acquisition of the assets.
The corporation or financial institution thus manages to get the assets off its balance sheet and may still receive fees for managing the assets.

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