SIV

Structured investment vehicle. An SIV is an SPV or SPE that is organized for funding purposes to hold highly rated long-term debt securities and, in turn, issue short-term debt, including ABCP. Pre-financial crisis, SIVs were frequently used as special funding vehicles and many were sponsored by financial institutions. Although these entities were formed as bankruptcy remote vehicles, when the securities that they held became impaired or lost their value, the SIVs faced liquidity and other difficulties, and many financial institution issuers provided support for the SIVs they had sponsored, resulting in losses for these sponsors.