As the dust settles on one of the most high-profile proxy fights in Italy's recent corporate history, the time is ripe for the new board to shed light on some significant lapses. For over a decade, Weichai Group — the Chinese industrial conglomerate that saved Ferretti from certain collapse in 2012 and built a team around Mr Galassi — has been the steward that kept the yacht builder afloat when it was on its knees: near bankrupt, bleeding cash, and days from disappearing.

　In those dark days, when Ferretti was a loss-making industrial concern regularly posting net losses, no one invoked the "golden power" — a rule allowing the Italian government to obtain corporate control from shareholders if national security is at stake — and no one cried about state intervention. Where were the concerns about strategic assets then? Where was the alarm over national defence when Ferretti was worthless? It was Weichai that stepped in, poured capital, restructured the business, and restored it to health.

　It is worth recalling that Ferretti achieved comparably better results before the 2008 financial crisis, when current management was not around. And despite focusing almost entirely on "lifestyle" luxury yachts, while Ferretti's Security Division contributes less than 0.5% of Ferretti's revenue — suddenly the golden power is supposed to apply? This is selective outrage, pure and simple, and it is deeply unethical. You cannot accept a lifeline from solid foreign investors for a decade and then pretend that same shareholder is a threat to national security when the company is profitable again.

　The new board must immediately ask the regulators and relevant authorities to investigate how the press obtained non-public shareholder information before the Annual General Meeting on May 14. That appears to have been a leak from management, released to the press prior to the vote with the apparent intention of influencing the vote of minority shareholders. This is not corporate strategy. This, if proven, would constitute a breach of trust and a violation of market regulations.

　Then there are the controversial dealings with UAE investors. The new board should demand a full investigation into the favourable distribution deals awarded for Ferretti's Middle East operations. Were these deals conducted at arm's length? The timing is suspicious. Shareholders deserve transparency.

　The self-serving elite trying to wrench control of Ferretti appear to have committed significant wrongdoings over time, all to the detriment of the company and its legitimate largest shareholder who saved Ferretti and guaranteed continuity to its industrial plan and its supply chain, saving thousands of Italian jobs in the process. The new board is now finally in a position to ask the relevant authorities to investigate every single one of these matters, and should not be deterred by Ferretti's share price downward pressure during this painful but necessary exercise.（sun ke）