Profits in the U.S. securities industry are forecast to be 14.5% higher in 2005 compared to last year, as revenues are up 32%.

The rosy predictions come from the U.S. Securities Industry Association’s 34th annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla.

Marc Lackritz, SIA president, said, “We are forecasting pre-tax profits of US$23.7 billion, up 14.5% from last year’s US$20.7 billion. Domestic revenues are estimated to reach $214 billion, or 32% higher than 2004’s results.”

Lackritz added, “We are on track to raise a record US$3.8 trillion in new capital for our growing economy – for new plants, new technologies, new schools, and new jobs. That is up 8% from 2004 and is the fifth consecutive year we have raised more than US$3 trillion in a US$12 trillion economy.”

The SIA also touted its lobbying success, noting that achieved an extension of the dividend and capital gains tax rate, strived to create a more efficient regulation system, and enhance investor education and diversity.

Of these, the SIA said nothing was more critical to repairing and restoring the public’s trust and confidence in the industry than its commitment to clarity. “We have emerged from the haze of scandal and governance issues to make clear that our industry sets a high standard for integrity and service and that the vast majority of people who labor in this industry are good people with sound values,” said Daniel Ludeman, SIA chairman, in his final address to the industry as chairman of the association.

As a means of demonstrating this commitment to clarity, in 2005 the industry took a historic step and adopted the first ever Inventors’ Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. “Hours of discussion and hard work went into framing and refining it,” said Ludeman. “And the result is the first industry-wide document of its kind – a tangible, living statement of our commitment and determination to do right by our clients.”

One hundred of the association’s member-firms have adopted the Investors’ Bill of Rights and Responsibilities in its current form or customized it to suit their business models more precisely, while the full membership endorsed the document through a proxy vote during the annual meeting.

“In a single year, 2005, our industry made strides in restoring public trust and confidence, we advanced our regulatory agenda, we reduced operational complaints, increased industry employment and turned our attention to winding up what may be the best year we’ve ever had in terms of financial performance,” added Ludeman.