Today we are opening our deliberations for The Covered Bond Report Awards for Excellence 2015, which will be presented in Frankfurt on 6 May on the eve of our joint conference with the ICMA Covered Bond Investor Council, and we would like to invite nominations from market participants.

The aim of the awards is to recognise those deals, institutions and ideas that have been best in class or contributed to the development of covered bonds over the past year (starting from 1 May 2014). As previously, and to ensure that we have the flexibility to reward those deserving of recognition, we are only proposing loose categories suggesting the types of nominations we would like to receive, along with examples of possible sub-categories:

- Issuer: issuance, transparency, investor relations

- Lead manager: euros, dollars and other

- New issue: euros, dollars and other

- Innovation

To get an idea of what we have previously rewarded, take a look at last year’s winners and why we have selected them in the past. For example, last year we honoured three deals in euros that stood out for different reasons rather than confer awards across different currencies – although, as with all previous categories, we reserve the right to mix things up this year and indeed expect to do so. We could add awards recognising excellence in research or ratings, for instance, if convinced of a deserving recipient.

So please let us have your thoughts – whether putting forward yourselves and your deals or others – via e-mail or a phone call. Has a particular issuer pulled a rabbit out of the hat with a spectacular comeback? Has a bank broken new ground with an innovative deal? Or is there an unsung hero in a niche market that deserves to be recognised?

We already have several candidates in mind and over the next two weeks will be engaging with a broad cross-section of market participants to discuss the merits of nominees. However, the ultimate winners will be decided by The Covered Bond Report.

Last year we held the inaugural Awards for Excellence Reception on a lovely evening at MainNizza in Frankfurt and we hope to see many of you, including our ultimate winners, there again this year – the reception is open to all delegates of our Covered Bond Investor Conference the next day, Thursday, 7 May, at the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library). Entrance to the conference itself is on a complementary basis and you can register on the ICMA event page.

Please contact managing editor Neil Day with your nominations or any questions: nday@coveredbondreport.com or on +44 20 7428 9575.