• PKO Bank Hipoteczny received The Covered Bond Report's Award for Excellence in the category Pioneer.
• The Covered Bond Report recognised Bank's pioneering role in the development of covered bond market in Poland and CEE region.
According to The Covered Bond Report, both the October-dated inauguration of covered bonds out of Poland, as well as the March-dated follow-up transaction represented a landmark for the development of covered bonds in Central and Eastern Europe. „Its long-awaited euro debut ushered in a new era for the Polish market, and PKO continued to lead from the front, selling a second euro benchmark in March" - said The Covered Bond Report in its award's justification. The second euro benchmark issue "further established PKO Bank Hipoteczny as a regular player in the covered bond world"- it added.
Rafał Kozłowski, CEO of PKO Bank Hipoteczny said: "We are proud that our international issues are perceived by independent experts as pioneering not only in Poland but also in the CEE region. The Award for Excellence confirms that we have chosen the right development path. It gives us motivation to actively pursue new challenges".
In 2016 PKO Bank Hipoteczny conducted the country's first ever benchmark issue of Euro-denominated covered bonds, with a nominal value of EUR 500 million. The next euro denominated issue (also with a nominal value of EUR 500 million) took place in March 2017. Bank conducted also four Polish zloty denominated covered bond issues with a total value of PLN 1.53 billion.
PKO Bank Hipoteczny is the market leader by volume of outstanding covered bonds. The bank's outstanding covered bonds amounted to PLN 5.36 billion at the end of March 2017.
The Covered Bond Report's Awards for Excellence are granted once a year to recognise those deals and institutions that have demonstrated the best of the covered bond market in in the past year. The winners are chosen by the editorial team after consultation with a cross-section of market participants. The Covered Bond Report is one of the most prestigious industry publications.