The US Securities and Exchange Commission should fund itself directly from industry fees, a system that would allow it to tackle more complex investigations and invest more in technology and skilled people, Mary Schapiro, its chairman, told the Financial Times.

The SEC already rakes in more than $1bn annually in registration and transaction fees but, unlike other US financial regulators, cannot spend any of it without going to Congress each year to get its budget approved. That process has made it difficult to plan ahead and invest in multi-year information-technology projects.