A Securities and Exchange Commissioner has called on the US regulator to lift restrictions that have deterred hedge fund managers from speaking to the media.

Paul Atkins, one of two dissenters in the vote that ushered in the now-defunct hedge fund registration rule, said last week: "Rather than talking about how hedge funds operate in the shadows, let us take a look at the regulatory constraints on hedge fund advisers that stop them from saying anything about their funds publicly.