The corporate watchdog’s public and private markets review is already making waves. Mid-review, the regulator’s tinkering with initial public offering rules to make it easier for privately owned businesses to transition to the ASX shows it is serious about bolstering public markets.

That’s understandable. Strong public markets have been great for Australia. Public markets are where the Commonwealth Bank of Australia got its $300 billion valuation, where governments and banks raise capital, where our biggest corporate taxpayers live and where the bulk of the country’s $4.2 trillion is invested.