is to remove risky assets from their balance sheet by having another institution assume the credit risk, so that they (the banks) receive cash in return. This allows banks to invest more of their capital in new loans or other assets and possibly have a lower capital requirement. Definition An "asset-backed security" is sometimes used as an umbrella term for a type of security backed by a pool of assets, and sometimes for a particular type of that security – one backed by consumer loans or loans, leases or receivables other than real estate. In the first case, collateralized debt obligations (CDO, securities backed by debt obligations – often other asset-backed securities) and mortgage-backed securities (MBS, where the assets are mortgages), are subsets, different kinds of asset-backed securities. (Example: "The capital market in which asset-backed securities are issued and traded is composed of three main categories: ABS, MBS and CDOs". (italics added)). In the second case, an "asset-backed security" – or at least the abbreviation "ABS" – refers to just one of the subsets, one backed by consumer-backed products, and is distinct from a MBS or CDO, (example: "As a rule of thumb, securitization issues backed by mortgages are called MBS, and securitization issues backed by debt obligations are called CDO .... Securitization issues backed by consumer-backed products – car loans, consumer loans and credit cards, among others – are called ABS Structure On January 18, 2005, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) promulgated Regulation AB which included a final definition of Asset-Backed Securities. "Definition of ABS. The term "asset-backed security" is currently defined in Form S-3 to mean a security that is primarily serviced by the cash flows of a discrete pool of receivables or other financial assets, either fixed or revolving, that by their terms convert into cash within a finite time period plus any rights or other assets designed to assure the servicing or timely distribution of proceeds to the security holders. The SEC has interpreted the phrase "convert into cash by their terms" to exclude most assets that require active behavior to acquire cash – such as the selling of non-performing assets and physical property. It has also interpreted the phrase "discrete pool" to exclude those that can change in composition over time. Lease-Backed Securities. The new rule expands the definition of "asset-backed security" to include lease-backed securities as long as the residual value