Goldman Sachs 2012 Annual Report Download - page 160

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
Note 11.
Variable Interest Entities
VIEs generally finance the purchase of assets by issuing debt
and equity securities that are either collateralized by or
indexed to the assets held by the VIE. The debt and equity
securities issued by a VIE may include tranches of varying
levels of subordination. The firm’s involvement with VIEs
includes securitization of financial assets, as described in
Note 10, and investments in and loans to other types of
VIEs, as described below. See Note 10 for additional
information about securitization activities, including the
definition of beneficial interests. See Note 3 for the firm’s
consolidation policies, including the definition of a VIE.
The firm is principally involved with VIEs through the
following business activities:
Mortgage-Backed VIEs and Corporate CDO and CLO
VIEs. The firm sells residential and commercial mortgage
loans and securities to mortgage-backed VIEs and
corporate bonds and loans to corporate CDO and CLO
VIEs and may retain beneficial interests in the assets sold to
these VIEs. The firm purchases and sells beneficial interests
issued by mortgage-backed and corporate CDO and CLO
VIEs in connection with market-making activities. In
addition, the firm may enter into derivatives with certain of
these VIEs, primarily interest rate swaps, which are
typically not variable interests. The firm generally enters
into derivatives with other counterparties to mitigate its
risk from derivatives with these VIEs.
Certain mortgage-backed and corporate CDO and CLO
VIEs, usually referred to as synthetic CDOs or credit-linked
note VIEs, synthetically create the exposure for the
beneficial interests they issue by entering into credit
derivatives, rather than purchasing the underlying assets.
These credit derivatives may reference a single asset, an
index, or a portfolio/basket of assets or indices. See Note 7
for further information about credit derivatives. These VIEs
use the funds from the sale of beneficial interests and the
premiums received from credit derivative counterparties to
purchase securities which serve to collateralize the
beneficial interest holders and/or the credit derivative
counterparty. These VIEs may enter into other derivatives,
primarily interest rate swaps, which are typically not
variable interests. The firm may be a counterparty to
derivatives with these VIEs and generally enters into
derivatives with other counterparties to mitigate its risk.
Real Estate, Credit-Related and Other Investing VIEs.
The firm purchases equity and debt securities issued by and
makes loans to VIEs that hold real estate, performing and
nonperforming debt, distressed loans and equity securities.
The firm typically does not sell assets to, or enter into
derivatives with, these VIEs.
Other Asset-Backed VIEs. The firm structures VIEs that
issue notes to clients and purchases and sells beneficial
interests issued by other asset-backed VIEs in connection
with market-making activities. In addition, the firm may
enter into derivatives with certain other asset-backed VIEs,
primarily total return swaps on the collateral assets held by
these VIEs under which the firm pays the VIE the return due
to the note holders and receives the return on the collateral
assets owned by the VIE. The firm generally can be
removed as the total return swap counterparty. The firm
generally enters into derivatives with other counterparties
to mitigate its risk from derivatives with these VIEs. The
firm typically does not sell assets to the other asset-backed
VIEs it structures.
Power-Related VIEs. The firm purchases debt and equity
securities issued by, and may provide guarantees to, VIEs
that hold power-related assets. The firm typically does not
sell assets to, or enter into derivatives with, these VIEs.
Investment Funds. The firm purchases equity securities
issued by and may provide guarantees to certain of the
investment funds it manages. The firm typically does not
sell assets to, or enter into derivatives with, these VIEs.
Principal-Protected Note VIEs. The firm structures VIEs
that issue principal-protected notes to clients. These VIEs
own portfolios of assets, principally with exposure to hedge
funds. Substantially all of the principal protection on the
notes issued by these VIEs is provided by the asset portfolio
rebalancing that is required under the terms of the notes.
The firm enters into total return swaps with these VIEs
under which the firm pays the VIE the return due to the
principal-protected note holders and receives the return on
the assets owned by the VIE. The firm may enter into
derivatives with other counterparties to mitigate the risk it
has from the derivatives it enters into with these VIEs. The
firm also obtains funding through these VIEs.
158 Goldman Sachs 2012 Annual Report