The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to hire as many as 160 extra staff as concerns mount over the escalating costs of regulating the $817bn (€638bn) hedge fund industry.

As the SEC confirmed that a new hedge fund taskforce could mean the creation of up to 160 new jobs, analysts said that adoption of plans requiring all hedge funds to register with the US regulator could leave the SEC facing increased costs running in to hundreds of millions of dollars.