The EU covered bond legislative package was adopted by the European Council today (Friday), the final step in the passage of the directive and regulation before they come into force after being published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The Council accepted the harmonised framework as part of a set of legislative reforms related to progress towards the Capital Markets Union. According to a press release issued by the Council, the texts will be signed in Strasbourg in the week of 25 November, before being published in the Official Journal of the EU. A Council spokesperson told The CBR that publication typically occurs three to four weeks after signature.

Following publication, the directive and regulation will be legally binding 20 days thereafter. Member States will then have 18 months to implement the Directive and issuers a further 12 months to align their programmes with the new legislation.

Political agreement on the legislative package was confirmed in a parliamentary vote back in April, before a technical hurdle was passed last month when minor amendments to the text and official translations into all EU languages prepared by the ECON committee were approved in plenary.