Issues associated with high-frequency trading, and the proliferation of advisory titles, will be among regulators’ top priorities this year, says Susan Wolburgh-Jenah, president and CEO of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

At a speech to the Canada Cup of Investment Management conference Friday in Toronto, Wolburgh-Jenah said that one of the self-regulatory organization’s key priorities this year is, “to address the issues associated with HFT in a fair and balanced manner.”

She noted that HFT was a major topic of discussion at the annual conference of global securities regulators in Beijing recently. Concerns include whether high frequency trading exacerbates volatility, whether it provides genuine liquidity, and if high-frequency traders seek informational advantages through their trading strategies.

She noted that IIROC is studying HFT in Canadian markets and its impact on liquidity, price formation, stability, volatility and overall confidence. And she said that the results of that work “will help to inform appropriate policy responses by Canadian regulators.”

IIROC has already adopted a new market regulation fee model that allocates its technology costs based on messages versus trades, which, she says, creates an economic disincentive to excessive and inefficient message traffic. And, she says that it’s proposing to issue guidance to clarify how new forms of trading may offend long-standing prohibitions against market manipulation and deceptive trading. “At the end of the day, trading that is illegal is illegal at any speed,” she said.

Additionally, Wolburgh-Jenah noted that IIROC will be issuing proposals dealing with electronic access issues generally, to complement a proposed rule of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), which would introduce basic obligations for marketplace participants.

Among other things, IIROC’s proposals will require sponsoring participants to implement pre-trade risk management filters, controls and supervision. “In other words, ‘naked’ access will be prohibited,” she noted.

In her speech, Wolburgh-Jenah touched on a variety of other industry issues, too, including the implementation of the client relationship model, measures to deal with heightened market volatility (such as single-stock and market-wide circuit breakers), the new regulatory framework for dark liquidity, and the need to oversee the growth of the fixed-income market.

Another concern is the use of titles and professional designations. She said that last year IIROC surveyed dealers to get a better sense of the titles and designations firms use, and that it is just finalizing research with investors and investor groups that aims to understand their experience with titles and designations, and how that affects choosing an advisor and investment decisions more broadly.

“With a proliferation of titles in use across the industry, the potential for investor confusion is very real,” she said, adding that IIROC will be using the feedback received from this research “to help us determine the appropriateness of regulatory oversight and/or guidance in this area.”

Finally, Wolburgh-Jenah also noted that IIROC is currently reviewing its strategic plan “to ensure that we are focused on the right issues and poised to address trends and new challenges in a rapidly changing environment.”