MONTREAL (September 19, 2000) — The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) today unanimously adopted the vision statement acknowledging the dramatic changes reshaping the financial services industry and committing to increase uniformity of state securities regulation and address other concerns of industry.

Entitled “The New Economy and state securities regulation,” the six-page document was voted on by the members of NASAA, who represent state and provincial securities regulators in the United States, Canada, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

NASAA’s new president, Deborah Bortner, Washington State’s Director of Securities, said, “This document is a blueprint for the changes that regulators need to make. Technology, the industry and consumer expectations are changing so fast, regulators need become even more effective, efficient and uniform.”

In testimony in early May before the Senate Banking Committee, NASAA’s former president, Bradley Skolnik, Indiana’s Securities Commissioner, said that regulators at all levels need to “take a fresh look at what they do, how they do it and its impact on industry and consumers” in light of globalization, new electronic technologies and the record number of investors in the stock market. At that time, NASAA promised to complete and adopt a vision statement by the end of the year. The National Governor’s Association and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners have adopted similar statements, reflecting the changing role of government in the “new economy.”