The Italian Stock Exchange has recently introduced stricter rules for companies listed on the stock exchange and the new market. At first sight, it may appear the Stock Exchange Regulations, which came into force on 1 July, came about as a result of the Enron scandal. In fact, it had been the intention of the stock exchange to reaffirm the principles of fairness and transparency coherently for some time and the exchange is committed to implementing best practice in corporate governance. The exchange issued its Code of Auto Discipline in October 1999 and it is on this that the new regulations are based.
Markets evolve continuously. For this reason, and the wish to avoid imposing onerous restrictions on market participants, the financial regulatory authority, Consob, has favoured self-regulation over statutory supervision by the authorities.
