Judge Margaret “Meg” Ryan has resigned from her position as enforcement director at the Securities and Exchange Commission, less than one year after being appointed to the role. Sam Waldon, principal deputy director, will serve as acting director, effective Monday, while the agency will announce a permanent successor in the coming weeks. 

Principal Deputy Director Sam Waldon has been named acting director of the division, effective immediately.

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

Ryan, who was named one of Wealth Management’s Ten to Watch in 2026, was expected to bring a steady hand to the agency’s on-the-ground enforcement staff. She had a difficult task: navigating a highly politicized government bureaucracy, a mercurial national leader who sets agendas that can change on a whim, and a perhaps demoralized workforce, all while relying on fewer resources, even as Main Street investors confront ever more complicated investment products.

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“Under her leadership, the division reprioritized enforcing the nation’s securities laws, with a focus on pursuing fraud,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said in a statement. “I thank Meg for her many contributions and wish her very well.” 

Last month, Ryan decried rumors that the SEC’s enforcement arm was falling short on the same day Atkins sidestepped questions about the agency’s dismissal of several high-profile crypto-related investigations. During a speech before the Los Angeles Bar Association at the 56th Annual Securities Regulation Seminar, she said notions that the enforcement at the SEC “has been tossed to the wayside are not only exaggerated but flat out wrong.”

“And the reality is that I do not have unlimited resources at my disposal,” she said. “As such, I focus on using the resources we have judiciously—that is, where they can most effectively and fairly be used to protect investors and our capital markets.”

Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, the enforcement division (and the agency as a whole) has undergone a decline in enforcement actions and workforce reductions. As of last May, Atkins reported to Congress that the agency’s workforce had shrunk by 15% since the start of 2025.

Ryan was an active-duty U.S. Marine Corps communications officer during deployments to the Philippines and the Gulf War. In 2006, President George W. Bush nominated her to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. 

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