At its annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla. the U.S. Securities Industry Association defended its role in restoring investor confidence.

SIA president Marc Lackritz said that the securities industry will rebound from this down cycle stronger than ever and will continue to play the leading role in restoring the public’s trust and confidence in Wall Street. Addressing the opening session of SIA’s 31st annual meeting, Lackritz said, “The key to it all is to put our customers’ interests first.”

In his remarks, Lackritz focused on three key areas: market conditions and the state of corporate America; the industry’s accomplishments in the past year; and, lessons learned, and how those lessons can be put to use to create new opportunities for investors, businesses, and the industry. “The hallmark of our industry has always been our ability not only to weather the storm, but also to put what we’ve learned into practice to create new opportunities for businesses, investors, and ourselves,” Lackritz said.

“The public and our investors are troubled with us,” Lackritz said. “But we hear what they are saying, and we’re taking it very seriously.” Lackritz outlined the industry’s response to these concerns, including: its efforts to improve the integrity and independence of research analysts; SIA’s work with Congress to pass tough, new laws that tightened accounting practices; and, in addition to promoting reforms that strengthen investor protections, and SIA expanded its programs to educate investors.

Also at the meeting Edward Jones was awarded the SIA’s first diversity leadership award.

Douglas Hill, an SIA board member, and Jones’s chief operating officer and a member of the firm’s executive committee, accepted the award for the firm.

Edward Jones’s Professional Development Program identifies and nurtures talented minority candidates, rotating them in various positions throughout the firm to prepare for a specific role that meets their interests and the needs of the firm. The firm is also credited with creating a strategic, global plan for inclusion, which has been incorporated in all division business plans.

SIA’s Diversity Committee, chaired by Kyle Maldiner of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., selected the winner after a review of diversity programs at SIA member-firms.

“Edward Jones has demonstrated not only a strong commitment to inclusion throughout its ranks, but developed specific programs that have successfully turned this vision into reality,” said SIA’s 2002 chairman Allen Morgan Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc.