These two were specialpurpose vehicles, a sort of independent holding company, that the New York Fed created to ring fence toxic residential mortgage backed securities and collaterized debt obligations in the heat of the crash.
The outcome, eventually, was a rule by which a company can keep a special-purpose vehicle off its balance sheet as long as an independent third party owns a controlling equity interest equivalent to at least 3% of the fair value of its assets.
Special-purpose vehicles usually are formed to move assets off a company's balance sheet to help avoid some regulatory scrutiny and capital requirements.