Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)

A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) a.k.a. Special Purpose Entity (SPE) is a company established in a low-tax jurisdiction with the express intention of enabling or facilitating certain types of transactions, including securitisation and project finance. Because they are legal entities in their own right, SPVs are bankruptcy remote, meaning if they issue bonds or structured notes, investors have legal recourse only to the SPV and not to the originators of the assets or the infrastructure project. For example, investors in a project bond issued by an infrastructure SPV have recourse only to the project or projects being financed by the SPV.