Ian Russell, president and CEO of the Toronto-based Investment Industry Association of Canada (IIAC), has been re-appointed as chairman of the London-U.K.-based International Council of Securities Associations (ICSA).

Russell will serve for another year, after having already served two years. He is the only Canadian to serve in this role at the ICSA in almost 30 years. The decision to re-appoint Russell took place at the ICSA’s annual general meeting in Stockholm on Tuesday.

“In addition to serving as president and CEO of the [IIAC], I am honoured to serve as chairman of the ICSA,” said Russell in an announcement on Tuesday. “I view this as a strong opportunity to raise awareness of not only ICSA’s role in promoting efficient and well-functioning securities markets and the efficient flow of cross-border capital, but to elevate the profile of the Canadian securities industry and our capital markets as well.”

In addition to Russell’s re-appointment at the annual general meeting, the ICSA members also discussed issues and initiatives related to market liquidity, cross-border regulation and cybersecurity.

“These issues are high on the agenda of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the global organization of securities regulators, and are important to the securities industry and the global economy,” the announcement states.

The announcement also notes that the ICSA will continue to build relationships in order to execute its mandate in responding to regulatory initiatives from multi-national bodies such as IOSCO and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Under Russell’s tenure as the ICSA’s chairman, the group has worked on initiatives such as the establishment of a market liquidity working group, which submitted a paper to IOSCO; publication of the results of a member survey on cybersecurity, which was also shared with IOSCO; and a second submission to IOSCO’s task force on cross-border regulation.

The ICSA was established in 1988 as a way to share information and work toward global best practices among trade and self-regulatory securities associations representing the world’s largest financial markets. The group now has 19 members.