2018 Deals of the Year Awards

LatinFinance's Deals of the Year Awards are the pre-eminent marker of excellence in the industry, determined by LatinFinance's editors based on an exhaustive selection process involving examination of data and in-depth feedback and discussions with market participants.

The categories for LatinFinance's 2018 Deals of the Year Awards are:

1. Sovereign Issuer of the Year
2. Corporate Issuer of the Year
3. Sovereign Bond of the Year
4. Quasi-Sovereign Bond of the Year
5. Corporate High-Grade Bond of the Year
6. Corporate High-Yield Bond of the Year
7. Sovereign Liability Management of the Year
8. Corporate Liability Management of the Year
9. Initial Public Offering of the Year
10. Equity Follow-On of the Year
11. Private Equity Deal of the Year
12. Cross-Border M&A Deal of the Year
13. Domestic M&A Deal of the Year
14. Syndicated Loan of the Year
15. Financing Innovation of the Year
16. Restructuring of the Year
17. Local Currency Deal of the Year
18. Structured Financing of the Year
19. Trade Financing of the Year
20. Law Firm of the Year: LatAm
21. Law Firm of the Year: Mexico
22. Law Firm of the Year: Brazil
23. Law Firm of the Year: Andes
24. Bond House of the Year
25. M&A House of the Year
26. Equity House of the Year
27. Loan House of the Year
28. Investment Bank of the Year

The 2018 Deals of the Year Awards will be judged on the following factors:

Issuers:

Categories 1 and 2 will be judged on:

• Extent of participation in the bond, loan and equity markets over the year, including the volume and diversity of deals
• Sophistication of issuance strategy, including innovation and foresight
• Structural aspects of transactions, success of issuances and geographical reach of deals

Deals:

Categories 3 to 19 will be judged on:

• Market significance, strategic importance and groundbreaking qualities 
• Structural aspects of the transaction, including complexity, innovation and size
• Execution, including price and demand achieved compared to other references in the market with regard to conditions at the time
• Secondary market performance, and reception by peers and investors
• Geographic reach where relevant

Investment Banks and Law Firms:

Categories 20 to 28 will be judged on:

• Overall strategy, volume and diversity of transactions
• Innovation and foresight
• Execution quality and success of transactions worked on
• Role in particularly complex, innovative or large deals over the year
• Quantity of transactions worked on over the year, and compared to previous years

The 2018 Deals of the Year Awards selection will take a three-step process as outlined below.

1. Nominations and shortlist

LatinFinance’s editors will compile a shortlist of deals for consideration in each category through two channels. An internal review will be done with the editorial team and of LatinFinance’s own coverage of the capital markets to identify impressive transactions and institutions. At the same time, market participants are invited to nominate stand-out deals and institutions for consideration.

In both cases, LatinFinance will verify that each transaction submitted is eligible for consideration before including it in the shortlist. Typically this involves checking the transaction has closed within the timeframe under consideration (October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018). All eligible transactions and institutions nominated internally and externally are included on the shortlist. The shortlist is not published.

External nominations are limited to one transaction or institution per category. Nominations must be submitted via the official nomination form, which must be returned by email as an excel document. Institutions are invited to submit further documentation to support their pitch. The deadline for submission of external nominations is Thursday, October 4, 2018.

2. Examination of data: meetings and research

LatinFinance will review official data for each of the transactions and institutions on the shortlist to reach its decision. This includes nomination documentation, data from LatinFinance and Dealogic, and recommendations from clients.

As part of this process, LatinFinance’s editors will conduct meetings and phone calls with market participants to discuss the shortlisted deals and institutions.

Institutions may request meetings and calls with the selection committee. Meetings are available at 10am and 2pm Monday-Friday from September 25 to October 19. Where an institution has nominated transactions or institutions for more than six (6) categories, we request that two appointments are made, divided by asset class.

3. Editorial evaluation

LatinFinance's editorial team retains discretion over the final allocation of awards in each category. The final decision will be based on information supplied in pitch documents and meetings or calls, research of financial data and analysis, interviews, and our knowledge of markets and activity over the course of the past 12 months. \

Announcement

Winners will be informed by LatinFinance’s editor by early November, with the news embargoed until winners are publicly announced at our awards dinner in New York City in January 2019.

Click here to download the official nomination form.

Email the completed nomination form to awards@latinfinance.com with "2018 Deals of the Year nominations" in the subject line by end of day on October 4, 2018.

Send inquiries to awards@latinfinance.com with "2018 Deals of the Year Awards" in the subject line.