Assessment Information
This is a 1,500 – word written individual assignment (5 credits) which will assess learning outcomes 1, 2, and 3 (equivalent of the 25% of the final mark) as specified in the MID – Module Information Directory (please visit the page for full information on the 6015FIN learning outcomes:

https://webapp.coventry.ac.uk/MidWebCurr/Module.aspx?modId=6015fin

This assignment is an INDIVIDUAL assignment.
Please note that in this assignment, you are not being tested on your knowledge in Finance, but on the manner you present, discuss, and conclude the data in your coursework.

Learning Outcomes
This assignment is set to meet the following three learning outcomes (1,2, and 4) as identified in the MID:
 Apply financial theory to advise corporations on the efficient utilisation of company
assets.
 Appraise both long- and short-term sources of finance.
 Employ enhanced digital literacy skills, gained from working on a variety of financial databases and software.

Assignment Requirements
This assignment requires the students to conduct basic research based on 60% academic peer-reviewed published sources, such as academic papers and books, and 40% on other sources such as newspapers, reports, working papers etc. Examples of other sources (nonacademic peer-reviewed) are the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, Financial Times, SSRN working papers database, Bank of England (BoE) weekly report etc. Academic published sources can be access through Google Scholar and the Library browser
Locate. Some of the useful sources of information (but not limited to) can also be found as follows:
• http://data.worldbank.org/
• https://www.wto.org/
• https://www.trade.gov/
• http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/
The basic research MUST be conducted to critically discuss and meet the following requirements:
1. Define dividends. Identify the firm’s payout strategies that have been applied throughout the study period.
2. Define equity, identify components of equity for your selected firm, discuss, and explain significant variations in each component.
3. Define short-term capital, identify its components, and discuss how each one may affect the firm’s financial performance.
If you selected a firm that can be described as being run under the Islamic law (Shari’ah law), then you need to briefly consider the three requirements listed above (with less intensity to comply with word count). Also, you need to
4. Define Islamic finance, define different concepts applied in Islamic finance, and distinguish between loans, lending, partnership, and other forms of finance and discuss how different they are from those non-Islamic firms.
Students are required to provide evidence (such as statistics) and citations/references in supporting their analysis and discussion.

Assignment Rules
a) The standard format for writing the report should be followed (Font: Times New Roman; Font Size: 12; Line spacing: 1.5 lines; Alignment: text justify).
b) There will be a penalty of 10% off the mark (after internal moderation) for work violating the word limit by more than 10%. You only can go 10% up or down the word limit, hence the acceptable range of word count is (1,350 – 1,650).
c) The word limit includes quotations and in-text citations, but excludes the cover page, abstract, table of contents, tables, graphs, reference list and appendices. Note that all tables and graphs are excluded from the word count all over your coursework.
d) Only one submission of the assignment is required from each student. A mark out of 100 will be awarded for each coursework submitted.

Assignment Structure and Marking Breakdown
The assignment should have the below listed sections and marks will be allocated accordingly as follows:
1. Cover page (including, Name of the University, Module’s name and code, Title of the assignment, Student’s Name, Module Leader’s Name, Date, Location). [Contributes towards point 3 below – This does not contribute towards word count].
2. Abstract. This is a paragraph detailing the purpose and main findings of the assignment (100 – 200 words). [5 marks – This does not contribute towards word count]
3. Table of Contents (with page numbers – overall structure of the assignment will be
considered when applying marks for this section) [5 marks – This does not contribute towards word count].
4. Introduction. Containing the problem statement and assignment purpose. You can also include background information relevant to the context. [15 marks].
5. Main Body. Main ideas, discussion and analysis from key academic literature, annual reports, discussion papers, newspapers etc. Main body MUST be divided into 3 (or 4 for students who selected Islamic firms) main sections. An original title for each section based on each assignment topic MUST be provided. [60 marks].
6. Conclusions. Summarise the main arguments. This section can include a discussion where you provide suggestions on future improvements/research needed on the topic. [10 marks].
7. List of references. Include all citations within the assignment in alphabetical order using the APA 7th edition referencing. [5 marks – This does not contribute towards word count].
8. Appendices. Any additional information that you think is not needed in the main text
can be included here. Ensure the sources are cited and labelled accordingly.
[This does not contribute towards word count].
[TOTAL 100 MARKS]

Notes:
 Your written presentation MUST be clear, clean, and show a coherent flow of ideas.
Consistent font, style, and size as indicated in the assignment rules section above
(please, read them carefully).