Within the corporate world we talk about the need for good corporate governance, but if there ever was a time to take more of a broad ranging view on good governance, it certainly is now. Indeed, a truly national effort is overly needed to strategically promote and systematically establish an environment where good market governance prevails across the board.

It’s all very fine to be ‘pro market’ but this in itself also necessitates the need for good market governance – governance aimed at rectifying the market shortfalls to ensure a level playing field for all. 

Good market governance is essential to ensure a fairly competitive and functional economy based on sustainable development among all parties, be they individuals, businesses, authorities and the government as a whole.

But good market governance is not just about having a properly functioning and effective regulatory framework or about making formal changes to our rules and regulations. We need to go well beyond legislation to changing the culture in both the public and private sectors if we truly want to enhance business and public confidence and produce the kind of encouragement which is conducive towards long-term investment and overall prosperity.

Changing people’s perception of what is acceptable or, even worse, the norm, and working towards establishing proper moral and ethical standards is also needed. This may all sound far reaching, if not outright utopic, but it is nonetheless critically essential.

Administrative authorities should be obliged to adopt a code of good market governance

Within this context, all administrative authorities should be obliged to adopt a code of good market governance. This ought to be a code based on transparency, uniformity, consistency, proportionality and, of course, coupled with effective enforcement and accountability. Good market governance should form the basis of all market legislation and supervision.

Taking a macro perspective is the way to go and we should resist piecemeal initiatives because we could very well end up missing the wood for the trees.  To cite a current growingly debated example, just as promoters argue that the absence of ‘equal pay for equal work’ is unfair, and, conversely, favourably argue that it is necessary to establish a level playing field, likewise one can argue about a number of long prevailing market malpractices where unfair competition prevails.

This is mainly due to rampant fiscal evasion along with recurring neglect or non-conformity with any regulatory requirements due to the absence of effective enforcement. This puts illicit operators in an unfair advantageous position to the detriment not only of law-abiding businesses and government coffers but, many times, also to the detriment of the consuming public at large.    

Therefore, the government, representative business organisations, unions and civil society would do well to collectively work towards the need to holistically and systematically address these market distortions for the good of all. 

Here, I applaud the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry for recently publishing and actively promoting their document entitled ‘Ethical Business Calls for Change’, with which I fully subscribe. The document, in fact, lists concrete suggestions aimed at enhancing good governance and the fair and effective enforcement of the laws of the land without fear or favour.

Let us indeed all put our heads together to work towards promoting and ultimately establishing good market governance. A national concerted effort is truly needed. Let us all work towards establishing the right level of good market governance… for goodness’ sake.

Noman Aquilina is the CEO of the Farsons Group.