一部引用 Enron's collapse gave special-purpose entities such a bad name that the new rule even comes up with a new term, variable interest entity, or V.I.E., to describe such vehicles. They get that name because different investors in them have interests that will vary with the success of the enterprise.
Under the old accounting practices, auditors permitted companies to keep such entities off their balance sheets if an outside investor put up all the equity, so long as that equity amounted to at least 3 percent of the total assets.
The new rule creates a guideline of 10 percent, but says that the auditor must assess whether any level of equity capital is enough to support the enterprise, given the nature of its assets, or whether a guarantee from the sponsor, like Enron, is necessary for it to borrow the money it needs. If the auditor believes that the guarantee is in fact needed, then the sponsor will have to consolidate the entity on its balance sheet.
Even when companies are not required to consolidate an entity, more disclosures will be required concerning the maximum loss that the entity could cause.