Safeguards: Temporary measures to protect an industry when it experiences increased competition by foreign suppliers. Safeguards can take the form of tariffs or quantitative restrictions.

Sale-leaseback: An arrangement whereby equipment is purchased by a lessor from the company owning and using it. The lessor then becomes the owner and leases it back to the original owner, who continues to use the equipment.

Sales-type Lease: A lease by a lessor who is the manufacturer or dealer, in which the lease meets the definitional criteria of a capital lease or direct financing lease.

Schedule B: Short form of Schedule B, Statistical Classification of Domestic and Foreign Commodities Exported from the United States. All commodities exported from the US must be assigned a seven-digit Schedule B number.

Second beneficiary: Where a transferable letter of credit is used, party to whom part of the value of this credit is transferred.

Second issuing bank: Bank issuing the second letter of credit in a back-to-back letter of credit transaction. Usually the Advising bank to the prime letter of credit.

Ship's manifest: An instrument in writing, signed by the ship's captain that lists the individual shipments that make up the entire ship's cargo.

Shipper: The party sending the goods, i.e. seller.

Sight bill: Bill of exchange payable immediately upon presentation.

Single Investor Lease: (See Full Payout or Finance Lease) A tax-oriented lease whereby the lessor achieves its desired rate of return via a combination of the rental payments, depreciation, and the fair market value of the equipment at the end of the original lease term. This method is utilized because the value of the tax benefit allows the rental payments to be lower than for a finance lease which can be an incentive to the company leasing the property.

SME: Small and Medium sized business enterprises. Generally SMEs create the most jobs and have the highest rates of entrepreneurship.

Small-ticket Leasing: Transactions under $100,000. In leasing, this is usually accomplished through conditional sale leases or single investor true leases.

Sovereign risk: Risk that a government or sovereign power will default on its payment obligations.

Spot rate: Exchange rate for foreign exchange transactions for immediate or near-immediate execution.

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC): The standardized numerical SIC code used by the US government to classify commodities, used in international trade.

Standard International trade classification (SITC): A standard numerical code system developed by the United Nations to classify commodities transported in international trade.

Standby letter of credit: A letter of credit designed to be used only when the applicant defaults on another agreed method of payment.

SWIFT: Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. An organization that operates the major interbank electronic communication system for financial messages (payments, letters of credit, securities transactions etc.)