1. Searching BANKSCOPE: An Expert Search

2. Open your browser and type in the Learning Resources web address into the location bar …….. www.lr.mdx.ac.uk Select Electronic Resources

3. Make sure that you have set your institutional cookie Scroll down to the bottom of the Electronic Resources page and click on to the link Once you’ve clicked on to the link, a pop-up window will appear and then close automatically – you only need to do this once

4. Log into Athens Athens is an authenticating system that allows students to access Middlesex University databases outside of the university Click on to the Athens link Log in using your IT user ID and your network password and once you have accepted the terms and conditions, you will be presented with a list of databases

5. Searching BANKSCOPE Scroll down and choose BANKSCOPE from the list of databases

6. About BANKSCOPE Bankscope is a financial analysis tool, combining information on 11,000 world banks with details such as balance sheet and income statements, ownership information, shareholders and subsidiaries. The data is updated 18 times a year

7. BANKSCOPE – Expert Search Begin by clicking on Expert Search While Expert Search sounds complicated, it actually provides more search criteria with which to search or exclude irrelevant banks

8. Scenario Imagine that you want to search for Islamic Banks in the UK Select Specialization from the left hand menu Choose Islamic banks

9. Refine the search Reduce your results by selecting a geographic location, select Geographic, Country and then select United Kingdom Review your results in the Search Summary

10. Look at the results Click on list to view your results Select Bank Report for extensive financial information for each chosen bank For additional, graphic information, click on the Overview Report icon at the bottom of the screen

11. Exporting Reports Similar procedures apply whether you are exporting a Bank Report, an Overview Report or just a graph Click on the Export Icon Choose a name for your export, e.g. Islamic Banks Select Word 2000 as your format Select the All Banks option Click on the Export button

12. Starting a New Search: Searching for a Specific Bank Click on the Search Button and then on New Search at the bottom of the screen in order to clear your previous searches Click on the Bank Name search option Type in Northern Rock PLC Click on the first result Notice the brief banking information at the top right of the screen

13. Looking at the Graphs Menu Click on the chevron to select the first bank Click on OK Click on list and then on the name/link A Standard Bank Report will appear Click on the Graphs icon at the bottom of the page Click on Export, the graph will automatically download into Word

14. Performing Statistical Analysis using Bankscope Click on Search and then New Search to clear your previous search Lets assume you are looking for the total assets of large banks in the Cayman Islands Click on Geographic, Country and then select Cayman Islands from the list Select the Large Banks option and then click OK Select the list tab and select the first five banks from your list

15. The Distribution Analysis Click on the Other Analyses tab and select Distribution The Distribution analysis will show the distribution of a single variable from the group of banks that you have selected

16. Choosing the Variable From the selection, choose Financial Profile and then Total Assets for 2008 Click on Export Choose a name for your report Click on Excel OK

17. Search by Credit Rating Searching by credit rating, allows you to choose either a very strong performing bank or a very poorly performing one. You can search either on a Fitch Rating or a Capital Intelligence Rating The Fitch Rating, can be searched on either in the long or short term. Fitch Ratings' long-term credit ratings are assigned on an alphabetic scale from 'AAA' to 'D‘ It was first introduced in 1924 and uses intermediate +/- modifiers for each category between AA and CCC (e.g., AA+, AA, AA-, A+, A, A-, BBB+, BBB, BBB-, etc.)

18. Using the Fitch Rating Fitch’s Investment Grade catagories are: AAA : the best quality companies, reliable and stable AA : quality companies, a bit higher risk than AAA A : economic situation can affect finance BBB : medium class companies, which are satisfactory at the moment Any thing else is considered to be a junk bond

22. The End