SWFs are state-controlled entities consisting of various financial products such as stocks, bonds, and other liquid assets.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The danger of sovereign wealth funds

Korea's credit excesses were similarly partly due to the liberalization and partial privatization of a banking system which had formerly been dominated by a handful of state-controlled entities.

WSJ: Philip Bowring: China Needs a 1997-Style Crisis

To the extent that risk has been distributed, it is largely from state-controlled banks to other state entities in increasingly arcane ways.

ECONOMIST: China's financial system

The New York state authorities also sent letters to mortgage-finance entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled companies that guarantee the bulk of U.S. home loans.

WSJ: Banks Delay $208 Million In Sandy Cash