Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, conceded on Monday it could take “many years” to overhaul US financial regulation as congressional critics took aim at his new plan to revamp a system dating back to the Great Depression.

The Bush administration issued its blueprint for regulatory reform following criticism that the fragmented system of US financial oversight contributed to the meltdown in the US subprime mortgage business and the resulting global market turmoil reports the Financial Times.

But the plan – which envisions expanding the reach of the Federal Reserve to prevent future crises while reducing the role of some other regulators – would “require a great deal of discussion and many years to complete”, Mr Paulson said.

He added that the administration’s recommendations “should not and will not be implemented until after the present market difficulties are past”.

Many of the proposals outlined on Monday would require legislation. In a sign of the difficulties the Bush administration may face in Congress, Chris Dodd, Democratic chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said the Treasury plan had “serious flaws”.

Read it here: Paulson says overhaul could take years