Margaret Ryan, the former head of enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), resigned last week after clashing with agency leaders over the direction of the watchdog’s oversight, including cases tied to President Donald Trump, his family, and his administration, according to a Reuters report.

During her 6-month tenure, Ryan had pushed for a more aggressive approach to fraud and other misconduct cases, including matters touching the president’s circle, but faced resistance from SEC Chair Paul Atkins and other top Republican appointees, according to Reuters, which cited three individuals with knowledge of the matter. 

Two of the cases that contributed to tensions involved crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, a supporter of the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial venture, and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, a major Trump donor who briefly served as a presidential adviser, according to the news agency. 

Ryan had also criticized defense lawyers she believed were trying to bypass career staff and appeal directly to top SEC officials, including Brad Bondi, a Paul Hastings partner and the brother of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to the report. 

Among the matters cited by the news agency as sources of frustration for Ryan was a settlement announced this month in the SEC’s case against Sun. The agency had sued Sun and three of his companies in 2023, alleging fraudulent trades generated more than $31 million. Under a deal negotiated by Bondi, one of Sun’s companies agreed to pay $10 million to settle fraud charges without admitting or denying the findings, while related charges were dropped by the SEC, Reuters said.

A separate point of tension involved the SEC’s case against Musk over the timing of his 2022 disclosure of a large Twitter stake, Reuters reported. The delayed disclosure had allowed Musk to buy more shares of Twitter at a lower price ahead of his formal bid to seize control of the social-media giant, according to agency investigators. 

Court filings this month showed settlement talks were underway, and a lawyer for Musk said in a March 4 hearing that discussions had taken place with top-ranking agency officials above the SEC staff level, according to the report.

Read more at Reuters