The new president of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), Andrea Seidt, is calling for “smarter” securities regulation.

Seidt, who is also Ohio’s securities commissioner, began a one-year term as president of the NASAA on Tuesday.

In a speech to the organization’s annual conference, she said its agenda, in addition to promoting state and provincial securities regulation, will feature a focus on smarter, modernized regulation in the year ahead.

“Importantly, it isn’t more or less regulation that we seek. It is simply smarter regulation,” she said. “Regulation that does not shy away from the reality that new technologies, even new modes of investing, are moving forward and will continue to evolve, but affirmatively seeks solutions in light of that reality to protect both businesses and investors from fraud, liability and loss.”

Seidt also called for regulators, policymakers, and the securities industry to “work together to find solutions that balance investor and business interests” in implementing rule making stemming from U.S. regulatory reforms; and to support ensuring that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has “the resources to do its job.”

“In the wake of the recent financial crisis and the speed and complexity with which securities transactions take place in today’s markets, the job of a securities regulator is no easy task,” Seidt said. “While it may not be easy, state and provincial securities regulators through NASAA stand united in their commitment to their core missions of investor protection and capital formation.”

Additionally, she pointed to the importance of developing an electronic filing system for multi-state offerings. “My vision is for there to be a one-stop, automated filing system for every type of corporate finance offering filed in multiple states,” she said. “A system that has NASAA guidelines, forms, and core state requirements embedded in its design, a system in which all regulatory and industry users can track the filing status of an offering in all states in real time.”

Seidt also announced NASAA’s new board of directors, including: president-elect William Beatty of Washington; past president, Heath Abshure, from Arkansas; Douglas Brown of Manitoba; Melanie Lubin from Maryland; Joseph Borg from Alabama; Michael Rothman of Minnesota; and Maine’s Judith Shaw.

For the past year, Seidt has served as NASAA’s vice president and chairwoman of the Investment Adviser Section. Previously, she served as a member of the board of directors. She has served as Ohio’s Securities Commissioner since 2008.