US SEC taps new enforcement chief amid questions over predecessor's exit

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has appointed David Woodcock as director of its division of enforcement as lawmakers press for answers on his predecessor’s departure.

In a Wednesday notice, the SEC said Woodcock would be taking over as the agency’s top enforcer starting on May 4. Sam Waldon will continue to serve as acting director of the division until then.

Woodcock, a partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, chairs that firm’s Securities Enforcement Practice Group. He previously worked as the director of the commission’s Fort Worth office from 2011 to 2015.

According to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, the appointment comes as the agency is “restoring Congressional intent by prioritizing cases that provide meaningful investor protection and strengthen market integrity.” Woodcock said that he planned to “execute the Chairman’s vision” in his role at the agency.

Source: SEC

He replaces Margaret Ryan, who resigned in March. Her departure prompted several US lawmakers to question whether she left due to the SEC’s decision to drop several crypto-related enforcement cases.

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Two senators have called for Atkins to answer questions as to whether Ryan “faced resistance” from SEC leadership over enforcement cases tied to US President Donald Trump. These included a February 2025 decision — one month after the president took office — to drop a fraud case against Tron founder Justin Sun, tied to the Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial crypto platform.

“[The SEC] may have exercised preferential treatment for financial partners of President Trump against the advice and warnings of senior staff when the agency declined to litigate credible fraud cases,” wrote Senator Richard Blumenthal in a March 30 letter to Atkins.

“No investor benefit or protection” from past actions

On Tuesday, the SEC released a report on its enforcement results for the 2025 fiscal year. The agency reported seven enforcement cases of crypto companies that were registration-related and six related to the definition of a broker-dealer.

According to the SEC, it “identified no direct investor harm” and claimed that the cases “produced no investor benefit or protection,” calling them “a misinterpretation of the federal securities laws.” The narrative was the latest example of the SEC’s shift in enforcement of crypto-related cases following Trump’s inauguration.

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