Asset-Based Finance (ABF)

Financing where repayment is primarily sourced from cash flows generated by a specific pool of financial or real assets, rather than from the general operating cash flows of the borrower. Broader than ABS: includes private bilateral loans, warehouse facilities, forward-flow agreements, SRT structures, and publicly issued securities.

Securitisation

The process of pooling financial assets (loans, leases, receivables) into a special purpose vehicle, which issues tranched securities backed by the cash flows from those assets. EU definition (SR 2017/2402 Article 2): a transaction where the credit risk associated with an exposure is tranched.

Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)

A bankruptcy-remote legal entity created solely to hold assets and issue securities or borrow against those assets. Bankruptcy-remoteness is the defining feature — achieved through limited purpose charter, limited recourse provisions, and non-consolidation opinions.

Synthetic Securitisation / SRT

A capital relief structure where a bank transfers the credit risk of a reference portfolio via protection instruments (CLN or CDS) without selling the assets. Assets remain on the bank's balance sheet; only the credit risk is transferred; EU-regulated under SR Articles 26a–26e.