REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY

The seal of the Securities and Exchange Commission is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., in May 2021. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement director has resigned just over six months after she started on the job, the SEC said today, a sudden departure for an agency that has changed dramatically under Republican leaders.

NEW YORK >> The Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement director has resigned just over six months after she started on the job, the SEC said today, 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 that 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.

SEC enforcement has slowed during the first year under Republican leadership, according to public records and criminal defense attorneys. While a slowdown is typical during transition years, the agency has also dismissed a number of crypto cases the SEC was considered to be winning, and ended litigation against individuals who had received presidential clemency on corresponding criminal cases.

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While largely unknown to SEC officials prior to her appointment, Ryan was generally seen as supportive of staff in enforcement matters, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The SEC is expected to announce a permanent successor in the coming weeks, the agency said in its statement.