SEC Enforcement Division Director Margaret Ryan Resigns

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday the resignation of Margaret A. Ryan as director of the Division of Enforcement. Her resignation was effective immediately, and Principal Deputy Director Sam Waldon was named acting director.

Ryan joined the agency on September 2, 2025, initially succeeding Weldon, who had served as acting director since January 2025.

The SEC will appoint a permanent director in the coming weeks, according to the announcement. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said Ryan “served with honor and distinction,” adding: “Under her leadership, the division reprioritized enforcing the nation’s securities laws, with a focus on pursuing fraud.”

Ryan is also a senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, having served separate stints in the U.S. Marine Corps as a communications officer and a judge advocate.

“I did not seek the role of director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Rather, this role found me. And for that, I am grateful,” Ryan said in the announcement. “I am confident that the foundation I helped to shape—working together with Chairman Atkins—will continue to serve investors and the markets well.”

In January, the Harvard Law School Forum of Corporate Governance released a report saying the SEC’s Enforcement Division carried out 313 new enforcement actions in fiscal 2025, down 27% from 2024 and the lowest number of enforcements in a decade. Total monetary settlements of $808 million in 2025 were down 45% from 2024.

According to the SEC announcement, Ryan “renewed focus on holding individual wrongdoers accountable” and “redirected the division staff toward the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm, such as fraud, market manipulation and abuses of trust, and away from approaches that prioritized touting volume over impact.”

Ryan’s tenure also saw the departure of the SEC’s only Democratic commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw, leaving only three Republican appointees on what federal law designates as a bipartisan five-member committee.

Ryan was nominated to her judicial post by former President George W. Bush in 2006.

She also was a partner in Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP’s litigation and appellate practices; a litigation partner in Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP; and a law clerk to Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Prior to that, Ryan was a staff officer, company commander, platoon commander and operations officer in the Marine Corps.