Before the Accounting Standards Board published additional clarifying rules, it was not untypical for companies to account for transactions as sales, despite continuing interests in and control over the transferred assets (i.e. receivables or financial assets in security lending/repo transactions). In essence those transactions would rather have to be treated as secured borrowings as opposed to sales, and therefore be reported on balance sheet as opposed to off balance sheet. 

Under Fas 140,  Accounting for Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities, a sale occurs if the following three conditions are met: 

1. Legal isolation of transferred assets. The transferred assets should be beyond the reach of the tranferor and its creditors, even in the case of bankruptcy or receivership.
2. Right to sell or repledge. The transferee (party receiving the assets) has the right to sell or repledge the assets or beneficial interest (debt or equity claim to the cash flows). There should be no conditions that limit the ability to take advantage of this right or give more than a trivial benefit to the transferor.
3. Effective control. The transferor does not maintain effective control over the transferred assets through a repurchase agreement or redeem them before their maturity or through an ability to unilaterally cause the holder to return specific assets.