More than half of hedge funds are undecided whether to deregister from the Securities and Exchange Commission following the regulators' short-lived attempt at imposing stricter rules on the industry as remaining registered sends positive signals to the market, according to a survey from consultancy Greenwich Associates.

Greenwich questioned 47 hedge funds in the US, Canada and Europe in mid-July and early-August, before the SEC decided not to appeal a June Appeals Court decision to strike down the SEC's registration rules, which mandated that hedge funds with more than 14 investors and $25m (€19.5m) or more in assets were required to register with the regulator as investment advisors and undergo inspections.