SPECIAL-PURPOSE ENTITY Definition

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SPECIAL-PURPOSE ENTITY (SPE) is a financing vehicle that is not a substantive operating entity, usually one created for a single specified purpose. An SPE may be in the form of a corporation, trust, or partnership. Special-purpose entities have been used for several decades for asset securitization, risk sharing, and to take advantage of tax statutes.

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CAPITAL REDEMPTION RESERVE, in Great Britain, the S170 Companies Act 1985 provides that where shares of a company are redeemed or purchased wholly out of the company's profits, or by a fresh issue the amount by which the company's issued share capital is diminished on cancellation of the shares shall be transferred to a reserve called the 'capital redemption reserve'. It also provides that the reduction of the company's share capital shall be treated as if the capital redemption reserve were paid up capital of the company.

WHITE COLLAR CRIME is a number of miscellaneous nonviolent crimes lumped together as white collar crimes. There is no fixed definition of white collar crime, although it usually includes bribery, embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and violations of trust committed by corporations or individuals engaged in commerce. Historically, in the U.S. many white collar crimes have received lenient punishment from a criminal justice system that considered white collar crimes to be less serious than more violent crimes. Today, the trend is for stricter punishment of white collar crimes in recognition of the financial damage they inflict on society.

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