Welcome to the first edition of Horizons for 2026 — and what a year it is already shaping up to be!

At the LMA, the past few months have seen continued engagement with members, regulators, and market participants across a wide range of initiatives. As winter gives way to spring, we are hopeful that the work undertaken during Q1 will bear fruit and help sustain the positive momentum of an increasingly mature and dynamic market.

Ensuring the sustainable future of the loan market remains at the heart of our agenda, key initiatives this quarter include updating our sustainable documentation suite, beginning with the Draft Provisions for Sustainability-Linked Loans, as well as progressing our pure-play project and launching a new initiative to address the gap between SMEs’ access to sustainability-labelled finance and lenders’ expectations under the GSSS Principles.

Looking further ahead, we will be focused on further developing a robust transition finance market with the forthcoming release of the fully developed Transition Loan Principles, building on the valuable feedback from the October 2025 Exposure Draft. In parallel, work will commence on the evolving role of the sustainability coordinator, a function that has grown significantly since its inception.

On the regulatory front, the LMA recently submitted its response to the European Commission’s proposed amendments to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. Drawing on extensive member input, we welcomed the proposed direction of travel while highlighting areas requiring further clarity as well as key recommendations following discussion with the LMA’s SFDR taskforce.

From an events perspective, the year has already begun with a flourish. Our inaugural Cape Town Conference, hosted jointly with ICMA, brought together more than 1,200 debt market participants over two days, exploring topics from gender-lens finance to sustainability-linked products and aligning capital with Africa’s climate and development goals. Key takeaways are available on LinkedIn.

Looking ahead, a key date for your diary is this year’s flagship Sustainable Finance Conference, taking place on 3 November in Paris. The event will be open to sponsorship, with full details in our dedicated brochure.

It promises to be a year of progress, collaboration, and impact. We look forward to working with all of you to drive the sustainability agenda forward and make 2026 a year to remember.