Poland is set to implement an amendment to its covered bond law on 1 January 2016, after the long-awaited legislation passed the latest stage of the parliamentary approval process despite concerns over a longer delay to its introduction.

The amendment to the legislation governing covered bonds and mortgage banks was this week approved by the lower chamber of Poland’s parliament, and has been passed on to the Senate for the next stage of the approval process.

The implementation of the law has been delayed since first being approved by the Polish Ministry of Finance in July 2014. A latest hold-up is understood to have been due to the law amendment clashing with other legislation, but after this week’s developments it is now expected the law will be finalised soon, ahead of Polish elections set for the autumn.

Market participants expect the amended law to boost Polish covered bond issuance and attract new issuers and investors.