Sarbanes-Oxley Act
United States law passed in July 2002 making further provisions on the financial information of companies offering guarantees to the public. In particular, the new law requires greater accuracy and reliability of the financial statements.

SEC (Securities & Exchange Commission)
Federal agency that regulates the U.S. financial markets.

Secondary market
A market in which existing securities are traded after they are initially offered in the primary market.

Securitisation
Replacement of credits and other non-marketable financial assets provided by financial intermediaries with negotiable securities issued in the public capital market.

Sell
A recommendation by an analyst or advisor that a given security should be sold.

Share
Certificate representing one unit of ownership in a company.

Shareholders' equity
Capital invested by the shareholders into the company, increased by reserves.

Solvency
The ability of a company to meet its financial obligations.

Spin-off
A form of cession resulting in a subsidiary or division becoming an independent company. Ordinarily, shares in the new company are distributed to the parent company¿s shareholders on a pro rata basis.

SRI (Socially Responsible Investment)
Asset management activity carried out according to environmental and social criteria. There are usually three different approaches: portfolio selection (securities are included or excluded depending on the environmental or social responsibility profile adopted by the issuing companies); active shareholding (the exercise of rights such as the right to vote at meetings, resulting from the ownership of shares to influence the company social responsibility policies); community investment (the investment of capital in marginal economies with the objective of local development).

Stakeholders
All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm. These include shareholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, suppliers, the local community, and the government.

S&P 500 (Standard & Poor's 500)
Index comprising shares of 500 US companies reflecting the general trend in the US stock market.

S&P/MIB
Italian equity index. It measures the performance of 40 stocks listed on the Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana).

Stock exchange
An organised marketplace in which securities are bought and sold, prices being controlled by supply and demand.

Stock exchange indexes
These measure the changes in market prices on the basis of a selection of stocks. In Italy the S&P/MIB, representing a group of 40 leading stocks, is the most well-known.

Stock option
Option allocation whose underlying asset is the common stock of a company, giving the holder the right to buy its stock, at a specified price and by a specific date. They are offered to employees in order to motivate them and foster loyalty.

Strike price
The price at which the owner of an option may buy or sell the underlying security.

Sustainable development
Development meeting contemporary needs without jeopardizing those of future generations (Brundtland Report - WCED World Commission for Economic Development - 1987).

Swap
An exchange of streams of payments over time according to specified terms. The most common type is an interest rate swap, in which one party agrees to pay a fixed interest rate in return for receiving an adjustable rate from another party.

Syndicate
A group of banks that acts jointly, on a temporary basis, to loan money in a bank credit (syndicated credit) or to underwrite a new issue of bonds.