Glossary.

Acquisition Fee

A one-time fee, calculated as a percentage of property value, charged when a property is sourced and structured into an SPV — whether acquired directly or staked in by an owner.

AML/CFT (Anti-Money-Laundering / Counter-Terrorist-Financing)

The combined regulatory framework and internal controls a licensed platform must run to detect and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, including sanctions and PEP (politically exposed person) screening.

Blended Yield

The average gross rental yield across a portfolio of assets or asset types, used as a planning assumption before actual property-level performance is known.

Cap Table

The record of who owns what proportion of an entity's shares — in this context, an SPV's own cap table of investor shareholdings.

CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency)

A digital form of a country's own currency, issued and backed directly by its central bank — distinct from both stablecoins (privately issued) and volatile crypto assets (unpegged). See Stablecoins, CBDCs & Property Investment.

Client Asset Segregation

The regulatory requirement that investor funds and assets be held separately from a platform's own operating funds, with no commingling.

Conflicts of Interest (Related-Party Disclosure)

A documented policy for identifying and disclosing situations where a party's interests could bias a transaction — most relevant here to owner-staked assets, where the contributing owner and independent valuation must be kept clearly separated.

Crowdfunding (Investment-Based / Property-Based)

A regulated activity where multiple investors fund a specific investment or property through a shared platform — the DFSA-regulated activity ONNVO's model falls under once authorized.

DFSA (Dubai Financial Services Authority)

The independent financial regulator for the DIFC, responsible for authorizing and supervising regulated financial activity, including property-based and investment-based crowdfunding. See DIFC & DFSA: Dubai's Regulatory Pathway.

DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre)

A financial free zone in Dubai with its own common-law legal framework and courts, independent of onshore UAE civil law — where a company incorporates and obtains its initial commercial licences.

Distribution (Rental Distribution)

A payment of an SPV's net income to its shareholders, pro rata to their holding, typically on a monthly or quarterly cadence.

Diaspora Capital

Investment capital originating from a population with ties to a region — for example, expatriate or diaspora communities investing in Dubai real estate from abroad.

EBITDA Margin

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, expressed as a percentage of revenue — a standard profitability metric used in ONNVO's financial projections.

eKYC (Electronic Know Your Customer)

Digital identity verification performed remotely, without requiring an in-person visit — the mechanism that lets a global, multilingual investor base onboard without being physically present in the UAE.

Fiat Currency

Government-issued currency (such as AED or USD) not backed by a physical commodity — the conventional banking rail alongside which ONNVO plans regulated digital-currency rails.

Financial Promotions

DFSA rules governing how regulated financial products can be marketed — public content must stay education-led, with detailed offers restricted to a registered, member-only environment rather than open solicitation.

Fractional Ownership

A structure where a single property is divided into shares held by multiple investors, each holding a direct, registered legal interest in the SPV that owns the asset. See What Is Fractional Real Estate Ownership?

GMV (Gross Merchandise Value)

The total value of property transacted through the platform in a given period, used as the base figure fee percentages are calculated against.

Illiquidity

The risk that an investment cannot be readily converted to cash — a structural characteristic of real estate and fractional shares in it, unless a specifically authorized secondary transfer mechanism exists.

Innovation Licence

A DIFC commercial licence category aimed at early-stage technology and fintech companies, used to legally establish a company and build product ahead of financial regulatory authorization.

KYB (Know Your Business)

Risk-based verification of a business entity's identity, ownership, and legitimacy — the institutional counterpart to KYC.

KYC (Know Your Customer)

Risk-based identity verification performed on individual investors during onboarding, with ongoing monitoring rather than a one-time check.

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets)

The European Union's regulatory framework bringing stablecoins and other crypto-assets fully inside a harmonized regulatory regime across EU member states.

MLRO (Money Laundering Reporting Officer)

The named individual responsible for a regulated entity's anti-money-laundering compliance and suspicious-activity reporting, typically appointed at incorporation.

NAV (Net Asset Value)

The value of an SPV's assets minus its liabilities — the base figure ONNVO's annual administration fee is calculated against.

Owner Staking

A supply channel where an existing property owner contributes their asset into a dedicated SPV to be listed for fractional investment, under the same disclosures and independent valuation as a directly acquired property. See the Model page.

Pro Rata

In proportion to one's share of ownership — how rental income, distributions, and sale proceeds are allocated among an SPV's shareholders.

Property-Based Crowdfunding

A DFSA-regulated activity where investors fund specific real estate through a shared platform, as distinct from investment-based crowdfunding for other asset types.

REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust)

A company that owns and typically trades shares in a diversified pool of properties, offering liquid but diluted exposure to real estate — distinct from a single-asset SPV structure. See the comparison table.

Reserve Policy (SPV Reserves)

A cash buffer an SPV holds, sized to a set number of months of operating costs and debt service, held before distributions are calculated.

Secondary Transfer Mechanism

An authorized facility allowing an investor to sell their SPV shares to another investor before the underlying property is sold — not available until separately authorized, and not live on ONNVO today.

SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle)

A standalone legal entity created to hold a single asset, isolating its risks, bank account, and share register from any other asset or entity. See How Real Estate SPVs Work.

Stablecoin

A digital token designed to hold a stable value pegged to a fiat currency (such as USD or AED), typically backed by reserves — distinct from volatile, unpegged crypto assets.

Title Transfer

The legal transfer of a property's ownership title into an SPV, either through a direct purchase or an owner's contribution.

Underwriting

The process of assessing a property's quality and risk — tenant credit, lease terms, valuation — before it qualifies to become an SPV, applied equally to acquired and owner-staked assets.

VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority)

Dubai's regulator for virtual assets, separate from the DFSA — a virtual-asset authorization from VARA or an equivalent regulator is required before any crypto or stablecoin funding rail can go live.

Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP)

A licensed entity authorized to provide services relating to virtual assets, such as on/off-ramping between fiat and stablecoins — ONNVO's planned digital-currency rails route through licensed VASPs rather than operating unlicensed infrastructure.

WAULT (Weighted Average Unexpired Lease Term)

A commercial real estate metric measuring the average remaining lease term across a property's tenants, weighted by rent — used in underwriting to assess income stability.

Yield (Gross / Net)

Annual rental income as a percentage of property value — gross yield before expenses, net yield after them. ONNVO's financial planning uses blended gross yield assumptions before fees.