The Covered Bond Report will be announcing the winners of the 2026 edition of our Awards for Excellence in conjunction with our annual Covered Bond Investor Conference on 25 June in Frankfurt, and we are kicking off the process with a call for nominations.

As ever, our aim is to recognise the deals and institutions that represent the best of the covered bond market. That may mean standing out in a crowded field, ploughing a lone but worthy furrow, planting the seed of future growth – or something that impresses in a way we haven’t thought of yet.

Indeed, rather than having strictly pre-defined categories, we will let the year’s outstanding deals and institutions drive which awards are given. At the same time, we will seek to both recognise the best in the busiest parts of the market, while not neglecting outstanding achievements in more niche or novel areas.

So we largely leave it to you to decide how to choose and pitch your candidates, but the following examples of the types of awards that have been previously handed out may provide some useful pointers:

• Best euro issuer, best global issuer, most impressive issuer

• Best global house, best syndicate, best advisory

• Deal of the year, best euro issue, best debut

• ESG, innovation, comeback

• Comeback issue, breakout deal, pioneer

The full roll of honour from last year’s awards (including those pictured) can be found here:

https://news.coveredbondreport.com/2025/06/the-cbr-2025-awards-for-excellence-our-winners/

One category that may feature this year but that we have not recently recognised with an award may also illustrate how we will seek to reflect market trends: US dollar covered bond issuance. We also reserve an Editor’s Award that may be used to recognise market initiatives or contributions by an individual or institution over a longer period of time than the past year.

Ultimately, we expect to pick 10-12 winners.

The deadline for nominations is 20 May, but please endeavour to let us have your thoughts as early as possible. This can be in the form of a call or email, screed or presentation, however long or short.

The awards cover the period 16 May 2025 to 15 May 2026 – so dust off those 2025 notes! And remember, you can nominate deals and institutions that are deserving of recognition but may not be your own.

We are particularly keen to receive early input relating to institutions further afield to help ensure that any such winners can make it to Frankfurt to collect their awards in person.

The winners will be decided by The Covered Bond Report following our deliberations but also on the back of input solicited from a cross-section of market participants.

We plan to announce the winners in Frankfurt on 25 June in conjunction with our annual conference co-hosted with the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) and Association of German Pfandbrief Banks (vdp), and organised by the vdpPfandbriefAkademie. You can find out information about the event here:

https://www.icmagroup.org/events/the-2026-covered-bond-investor-conference/

We hope to see you there and may the best deals and institutions win!

Photo credit: Wonge Bergmann