Barack Obama signalled a broad overhaul of the fragmented regulatory system in the US on Thursday as he nominated Mary Schapiro as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“The American people right now are feeling frustrated that there’s not a lot of adult supervision out there,” said the president-elect, adding that a revamp of regulation would be one of his “earliest initiatives”. A “very detailed plan” would be released once his team was in place, he said.