TORONTO - Former TMX Group Ltd executive Kevan Cowan has been appointed chief regulator of a yet-to-be-created national securities regulator meant to unify the current patchwork of provincial entities, its implementation body said on Thursday.

The much-delayed cooperative system which currently includes British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Yukon and the Canadian federal government is expected to launch in 2018. Alberta and Quebec have both said they will not join the regulator.