Exclusive: US SEC's top cop resigns after just six months on the job
Source: Reuters
March 16, 2026 2:20 PM EDT Updated 35 mins ago
NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement director has resigned just over six months after she started on the job, the SEC said on Monday, a sudden departure for an agency that has changed dramatically under Republican leaders. Former military judge Margaret Ryan has led the SEC's enforcement unit since joining the agency in early September. She has resigned from the agency effective immediately, the SEC said in a statement, confirming Reuters' earlier reporting.
Ryan, a former Marine who had clerked for well-known conservative judges, had been seen as an unusual pick to lead the 1,400-person enforcement given she had little experience specific to securities law. She was tapped by Republican Paul Atkins, who became SEC chairman last April and took several months to get top leaders into their roles. "We have achieved things over the past six months and I know that this critical work will continue," Ryan said in an email to staff reviewed by Reuters.
The SEC said in its statement that Ryan oversaw a "critical course correction within the division". The agency's Republican leadership has sought to focus on cases involving outright fraud and market manipulation and to move away from some of the compliance-oriented cases seen under prior leadership.
Ryan's tenure coincided with what some lawyers described as relatively spotty or slow enforcement activity at the SEC, a government shutdown and continued attrition from an agency that has seen an exodus of staff under the Trump administration.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-sec-enforcement-director-leave-agency-after-months-job-sources-say-2026-03-16/
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Transformation from an enforcement agent to a non-enforcement agency.
