In this episode of Allen & Overy’s Market Horizons podcast series, Axel de Backer, a Senior Associate in A&O’s Banking  & International Capital Markets practice in Brussels and Danielle Kendall, a Senior Professional Support Lawyer in A&O’s International Capital Markets practice in London, discuss the potential impact of the political agreement on the draft EU Green Bond Regulation for the mainstream debt capital markets.   

Together, they discuss why the new European green bond label will represent a “gold standard”, and how an issuer will be able to meet its requirements. They also cover the newly introduced voluntary approach to sustainability disclosures for bonds not using the label but marketed as environmentally sustainable or sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs). As well as the ability for issuers to continue to follow the ICMA Principles should they prefer and what changes may be made to the EU Prospectus Regulation in terms of the introduction of a new ESG disclosure Annex.