Off-balance sheet financing is any form of funding that avoids placing owners' equity, liabilities or assets on a firm's balance sheet. This is generally accomplished by placing those items on some other entity's balance sheet. A standard approach is to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and place assets and liabilities on its balance sheet. Also called a special purpose entity (SPE), an SPV is a firm or legal entity established to perform some narrowly-defined or temporary purpose. The sponsoring firm accomplishes that purpose without having to carry any of the associated assets or liabilities on its own balance sheet. The purpose is achieved "off-balance sheet." Off-balance sheet financing is attractive from a risk management standpoint. When assets and liabilities are moved from one balance sheet to another, the risks associated with those assets and liabilities go with them. For example, if a firm transfers credit risky assets to an SPV, the credit risk goes with those assets, and therefore does not need to be “covered” by insurance capital.