Risk awards 2013 open for submissions

Risk awards 2013 submission guidelines.

In January, Risk will publish its annual Risk awards, designed to recognise best practice in the risk management and derivatives markets.

There will be 29 categories, ranging from derivatives house of the year to deal of the year. Three new categories have been added for this year's awards: OTC infrastructure service of the year, to recognise the growing importance of pre- and post-trade services and tools, like trade compression, middleware, and credit-checking; and two new technology awards - trading technology product of the year and back-office technology product of the year.

We are asking firms to make submissions in the categories for which they would like to be considered. Details such as head count and global office locations are not required. Instead, candidates should focus on describing how they are adapting to regulatory change, their approach to risk management, how they reacted to difficult market conditions, and their overall performance, over the course of 2012.

Applicants should also describe deals that have been conducted over the past 12 months. In particular, they should outline details of customer problems, describe the thought processes the bank went through, explain why a particular solution was chosen, and illustrate the benefits a specific trade brought to a client.

Once again, we are also asking for client references (names, email addresses, phone numbers). Getting confirmation and feedback from clients on specific deals is a key part of the due diligence process for the awards and has been an important element in selecting past winners. All information used to judge the award is considered strictly confidential. We are happy to sign confidentiality agreements where necessary.

The awards will be judged by a panel of senior editors and writers. Judging criteria will include (but will not necessarily be limited to): risk management, staying on top of regulatory change - and helping clients do the same, customer service, liquidity provision and quality of pre- and post-sales service. Scale is not the primary consideration - we are also looking for innovation and creativity.

There's no minimum or maximum length for the submissions. There's also no required format for the submissions - it can be PDF, Word, PowerPoint, etc.

The deadline for submissions is 6pm Monday, September 24. Follow-up interviews will take place for short-listed firms during October and November. The decisions will be made in late November.

Read the full submission guidelines by clicking here.

Risk awards 2013 submission guidelines

If you have any questions on the awards process, please do not hesitate to contact me on 020 7316 9020 or email [e-mail]