EU finance ministers Friday approved delaying the start of the EU's updated markets in financial instruments legislation, known as MiFID 2, by a year to January 3, 2018.
This was the last formal approval needed after the European Parliament voted to approve the delay earlier this month.
The new start date must now be published in the EU's Official Journal for it to become binding.
The MiFID 2 legislation sets out rules and conditions for trading financial instruments, such as emission allowances and commodity derivatives, though it is not yet clear exactly which non-financial companies trading commodities will be captured by it.
The EC proposed the delay in February after EU financial authority ESMA said last year that it would not be ready in time for the original start on January 3, 2017.
ESMA said then that regulators and companies needed more time to prepare for the new obligations.
A key reason for the delay is that the EC has not yet finalized the secondary legislation setting out the detailed rules for implementing MiFID 2.
The EC is still looking, for example, at a formal opinion ESMA submitted in May on how to decide which non-financial companies should be captured by MiFID 2.
Complying with MiFID 2 would involve higher trading costs, including having to meet stricter capital requirements.
The EC is working to have the secondary legislation in place before the new MiFID 2 start date.
