SEC and Financial Regulation

Margaret A. Ryan, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement chief, abruptly resigned Monday just six months after taking the job, an unusually short tenure for the agency’s top cop on Wall Street. The SEC gave no reason for her departure, and Ryan, a former Marine and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, could not be reached for comment. Her exit comes as SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins steers the commission through a broader, business‑friendly turn in President Trump’s second term, including a marked retreat from Biden‑era crackdowns on Wall Street and cryptocurrency firms; a New York Times investigation previously found the agency had eased up on more than 60 percent of pending crypto lawsuits after Trump returned to office. In a statement, Atkins framed the shift as bringing enforcement back to Congress’s “original intent” and credited Ryan with helping that effort, while critics inside and outside the agency have pointed to depressed morale and key departures tied to the pullback. Deputy enforcement chief Sam Waldon will serve as acting director while the SEC searches for a permanent successor, leaving questions about how aggressively the regulator will pursue complex financial fraud and volatile crypto markets at a time when political pressure favors lighter-touch oversight.