FOW International Awards

1. The period under consideration is 1st October 2025 – 30th September 2026 

All submissions must focus on this period. The primary focus is on listed derivatives though not exclusively. Growth or notable achievements should focus on this period. Events outside this period will be considered ancillary to the entry by judges. 

2. Entries will only be accepted for the categories you are entering. You may submit for multiple categories and the same entry may be submitted to multiple categories but you should consider the need to impress judges in that specific category when submitting your award so tailoring multiple entries of the same product or entity to each award category may be more successful than a copy and paste job.

3. All entries must be in English and completed by the awards deadline – 30 November 2026

4. The word count for each awards entry is a maximum of 750 words, please do not exceed this. Additional information such as press releases or brochures may be submitted but the core of the entry that will be considered by judges will be the 750 word entry.

5. Judges will be looking for specific and tangible achievements or innovations. The judges are asked to consider these and are required to support their decision with references to innovations or achievements. A history of the firm may make for interesting reading but will not give the judges enough information to make an award. Remember you are being judged on achievements during the period. This may relate to products or innovations launched outside the judging period but the growth or contract wins that you are highlighting should be during the judging period.

6. This year, the Bank of the Year category will be decided via a nomination and pitching process, rather than a purely submission based process used for the other awards (excluding exchange categories which are decided by FOW data).

a. Nominations

During the nominations period, organisations are invited to put themselves forward for inclusion in the shortlist via the submissions page, covering notable developments during the judging period 1st October 2025 – 30th September 2026.

We also invite participants to nominate other institutions who have impressed over the year. This is optional and gives participants an opportunity to help shape the shortlist. We ask that you submit/nominate by 12 November to be considered for the shortlist.

These nominations will be used alongside independent research to create a shortlist for Bank of the Year. Shortlisted organisations will then be invited to pitch to win Bank of the Year from mid-November.

b. Pitching

Organisations included on the shortlist will be invited to pitch to the FOW team from mid-November to win Bank of the Year.

Pitch meetings will last around 30 minutes, again focusing on activity during the period 1st October 2025 – 30th September 2026. To arrange a pitch meeting, please get in touch with the FOW team.

The pitch will be verbal, so there is no written submission requirement in addition to the previous nominations stage, but you are welcome to present a slide deck during the pitch.

The FOW team will be looking for the following to help decide the winner of the Bank of the Year:

• Clear evidence of how your organisation has differentiated itself from competitors through performance, strategy and product offering

• Outstanding client service

• Efforts to future-proof the business, for example in areas such as technology, regulation and ESG

The FOW team will then use the material delivered in the pitches alongside those submitted in the nominations stage to decide the winner of Bank of the Year.