The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Monday that Judge Margaret Ryan has stepped down as director of its Division of Enforcement after little more than six months on the job. 

Ryan resigned effective immediately and the SEC did not elaborate on the reasons for her departure. Sam Waldon, the division’s principal deputy director, has been named acting enforcement chief, the agency said in a statement. Waldon previously served as chief counsel to the division and held the acting enforcement post from January through August 2025, prior to the start of Ryan’s tenure in September. 

In a statement, Ryan said she appreciated the chance to serve and expressed confidence in the division’s direction under new leadership. “I did not seek the role of director of the SEC’s division of enforcement. Rather, this role found me,” she said in comments echoing a speech earlier this year. 

Her departure comes weeks after Ryan publicly defended the enforcement division’s approach amid scrutiny from some lawmakers over a record-low number of enforcement cases, Dow Jones Risk Journal reported on Monday. In remarks cited by the publication, Ryan said the agency would prioritize “bringing good cases that further the SEC’s core mission” rather than maximizing case counts.

“Reports that enforcement work at the SEC has been tossed to the wayside are not only greatly exaggerated but flat-out wrong,” Ryan said in the February 11 speech. “But I will say that I am far more concerned with the quality and impact of the enforcement actions that we bring than with chasing numbers.”

“Wrongdoing exists, and so long as it does, I am honored to help steer the ship,” she said in the same remarks. 

Read the SEC announcement here