Merchants
Following a large petition from the Nobility, Emperor Xanolph Lystra formed the Imperial Guild of Merchants in 620EY to regulate interstellar trade. The Guild is subject to oversight by the Imperial Treasury, an independent body funded through Guild subscriptions levied on the traders of the Empire. The requirements for different types of trade are reasonably complex (by the Guild's own design) and are explained in more detail below, though they all require the business in question to be run by Guild members and to open up their accounts to official scrutiny.
The Guild offers four levels of membership, which must be openly declared as demanded by the Nobles who called for the Guild to be formed. These levels are designated as follows:
- Trader
- Merchant
- Master Merchant
- Grand Master Merchant
In addition, a Guild Master is elected from the Grand Masters to represent the Guild in formal matters, though his opinion holds little more weight than that of any other Grand Master.
In order to attain a higher level of membership, an individual must Petition a Grand Master Merchant, providing evidence of why he is worthy of higher status. The exact nature of the Petitions is unknown as the only formal requirement is the signed support of "worthy individuals" other than the Grand Master approving the Petition, but it is widely suspected that Petitions include a number of verbal agreements or monetary considerations; these suspicions are of course denied by all concerned.
In addition, it is possible for a member of the Guild to request that the membership of another is reduced or even removed. Again, this is requested by Petition and the person to be demoted may Petition to keep their status. This power is not used widely, and is mostly thought to be reserved for any member of the Guild who is likely to bring the organisation into disrepute.
The Guild of Merchants has few directly owned resources of its own. However, the constituent businesses have huge wealth, and can rival any of the Noble Houses in terms of access to space transportation (though not military might).
Trading Regulations
- Each company to be considered for participation in interstellar trade must have a number of appointed Directors who are responsible for the management of the company and its finances.
- For any interstellar business to obtain a trading licence, either all of its Directors must hold the title of Trader or one Director must hold the title of Merchant or above.
- For a business to obtain a licence for inter-House trade, either all of its Directors must hold the title of Merchant or one Director must hold the title of Master Merchant or above.
- For a business to obtain a licence to trade with anyone outside the Empire, either all of its Directors must hold the title of Master Merchant or one Director must hold the title of Grand Master Merchant.
- All businesses must open their accounts to the scrutiny of the Imperial Treasury.
Power Groups
As a collection of the Empire's fiercest dealmakers and most competitive businessmen, the Merchants are naturally rife with internal cliques and collectives. For example, each Grand Master will sponsor a stable of businesses by working as a Director for them. This allows those companies to sidestep the licensing requirements detailed above and apply for any trading licences they desire. It is speculated that there are a number of potential sponsors with high ranks in the Guild who accept companies under their wing only in exchange for large monetary considerations and favourable trading terms.
There are a number of powerful consortiums operating within the Guild, but any who are discovered are quickly disbanded by the Imperial Treasury if it is found that their cooperation gives them an unfair competitive advantage. In light of this, there are mere whispers of a group known only as the Circle. It is said that if you wish to become a member, you must wait for the Circle to contact you if you are worthy. Little is known of their reach or their activities, though several Treasury investigations into suspected members have come to nothing.
Many Nobles find these undeclared groupings highly distasteful, claiming that they are as harmful to the stability of the Empire as the unregulated Cartel which preceded the Guild ever was. However, these are extreme views and many people accept that such a large organisation will contain a few unsavoury individuals who take part in anticompetitive business practices.
Imperial Treasury
The Imperial Treasury are empowered to audit the accounts of any business in the Empire, but in reality only the large businesses owned by the Merchants fall under their day-to-day scrutiny. In fact, the Merchants petition long and hard to keep the Treasury as small as possible and only able to realistically investigate the largest charges of corruption and financial mismanagement.
The Treasury is, however, very thorough. They cannot afford to be seen to allow any illicit activity within the Merchants pass them by unnoticed and each agent is screened and carefully monitored to ensure his independence of any commercial enterprise.