Chapter 2 — Glossary of Selected Terms

In constructing the concept of a VIE, the FASB invented a new language of sorts. At times, its nomenclature has proven difficult to understand because many of the terms are esoteric and do not appear in other areas of GAAP. The purpose of this chapter is to briefly explain some of the key terminology introduced by the consolidation models and to indicate where the related concepts are more fully discussed in this Roadmap.