The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has selected Judge Margaret “Meg” Ryan to become the new Director of the Division of Enforcement. This Division is the largest at the SEC and in many ways the most public aspect of the regulator.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said Ryan brings decades of experience to the Commission.
“Judge Ryan will lead the Division guided by Congress’ original intent: enforcing the securities laws, particularly as they relate to fraud and manipulation.”
Judge Ryan is a senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. She was nominated to the court in 2006 by President George W. Bush. She reached senior status in August 2020. Judge Ryan is currently a lecturer on military law and justice at Harvard University Law School. She was a visiting professor at Notre Dame Law School and a lecturer at The George Washington University Law School.
Before Ryan was a judge, she was a partner at two law firms, Wiley Rein & Fielding and Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott. She previously served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court of the United States and to Judge J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Before attending the University of Notre Dame Law School, where she graduated first in her class, Ryan was a judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Acting Director of Enforcement Sam Waldon will return to his previous role as Chief Counsel for the Division.