Queries for a filtered search

Here, if you are on the "Database" submenu.

To search for a title, you must click on the "Filter" link.

Let's see what happens when you click on the "Filter" link.

This filter allows you to search the database using several fields: "Name of title", "Head office", "Country of Head office", "Country of activity", " and "Theme(s)".

In the first two fields, you can search for full or partial text. In the two "Country…" fields, you can enter a few letters of the country name or navigate through the menu; for the "Theme" field, you’ll need to navigate through the drop-down menu.

The filter dialog box also includes two buttons: the first, "Go", triggers the query, while the second, "Clear Filters", clears the filters.

How to carry out an effective search:

Try to identify the key word or combination of words in the title, then refine your search by including other information, such as the location of the head office, which is often stated in the title.

The database also contains common terms in the title, such as: banque, ville, Belge, national(e), general(e), Belgique (you can, however, combine these with other words; for example: Banque de Bruxelles, Ville d’Anvers), not to mention shorter terms; without additional criteria in your query, you may end up with a multitude of results. Definite and indefinite articles of their own should be excluded.

Avoid the following terms: chemin de fer, compagnie, société anonyme, limited, company, as they are frequently abbreviated.

Pay attention to punctuation and typographical marks in titles, such as French quotation marks (« ») and English quotation marks (" "), hyphens (-), and parentheses ( ), which are sometimes missing from the title in the database or separated by a space between the elements and the marks.

You may also refer to the menu bar under ‘Info-Rules-Conventions’ > Title Encoding Conventions and Special Conventions for government and municipal bonds.

Here are a few examples of how to carry out an effective search:

Let’s look up the details of the title "CITA - S.A."; its title is quite brief (consisting of four characters), and with such a short search term you’ll get a list spanning 27 pages; however, if you add an additional criterion, you’ll narrow down your list.

Here’s what happens if you fill in the "Country of head office" field in the window, i.e.:

Filter > Name of title = Cita + Country of head office = Belgium; you will then get a list with fewer than 10 entries.

Société Equatoriale Congolaise Lulonga-Ikelemba - S.A.

Filter > Name of title = Lulonga

There are several keywords here; the most obvious approach would be to apply the ‘Title Name’ filter using ”Lulonga” or “Ikelemba”, given that there is a typographical character separating these two terms. You can always add additional criterion.

Compagnie du Kivu - S.A.

Filter > Name of title = Kivu + Head office = Anvers.

You will hold all the shares in Compagnie du Kivu, which has its head office in Anvers. This example illustrates that the key word contains only four letters, that the word ‘Compagnie’ is abbreviated, and that, furthermore, this abbreviation appears at the end of the wording.

Société Générale de Belgique - S.A.

Filter > Name of title = Générale de Belgique + Country of activity = Belgium.

You will see the securities associated with Générale de Belgique where the “Country of activity” is listed as “Belgium”. I selected a group of words because the terms “Générale de Belgique” are quite common in the database. I could have included the “Holdings” theme for Générale de Belgique, which would have further refined my search. It is not always easy to select the appropriate search criteria when common names are used.

In the “Country of activity” field, I entered the country’s two-letter code, namely “BE”; you will then be shown the countries that include “BE” in their name, and all you need to do is select the country, in this case “Belgium”.

Municipal and government bonds with multiple issues

A few tips regarding municipal and government bonds with multiple issues:

For municipalities

You can set the search as follows: Anvers 1903 or Anvers 19; this will return bonds issued in 1903 and bonds issued between 1900 and 1999, respectively.

For governments

You can set the search as follows: Belgium 1904 or Belgium 19; this will return bonds issued in 1904 and bonds issued between 1900 and 1999 respectively (here, “Belgique” is translated into English).

There are also translations for other government bonds; for example: "Russie" becomes "Russia", "Chine" becomes "China", "Congo belge" becomes "Belgian Congo"...

Bonds Ville d’Anvers

Filter > Name of title = Anvers + Thème(s) = Cities.

You will then have all the titles from the city of Anvers.