The working consensus in the hedge fund industry appears to be that Dodd-Frank will materially expand the range of hedge fund managers required to register with the SEC as investment advisers.  A less-frequently told story, if it has been told at all, is that the plain language of Dodd-Frank may, subject to rulemaking, enable certain hedge fund managers to elect between registration with the SEC and CFTC – a sort of regulatory franchise previously reserved for banking institutions.  Put slightly differently, Dodd-Frank may contain an expansive but as yet under-examined exemption from SEC registration for certain hedge fund managers – an exemption, moreover, that is not based on assets under management.  That exemption – if indeed it is one – is contained in Section 403 of Dodd-Frank.  Here’s how it would work.