Gibson Dunn partner takes top enforcement role at SEC

A former Securities and Exchange Commission official will return to the agency next month to take the top enforcement job following the sudden resignation of the previous director. 

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David Woodcock, a partner at law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, will start May 4, the agency said Wednesday. Acting Enforcement Director Sam Waldon will continue in the role until then. 

“I am incredibly pleased to have David rejoin the SEC at this critical time, as we continue to focus on the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm to investors,” Chairman Paul Atkins said in a statement.

Woodcock had been under consideration for the high-profile enforcement director role last year, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing the confidential processes. Ultimately, Atkins chose Margaret “Meg” Ryan, a senior military judge with no securities law background who was on a list of potential Supreme Court nominees during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

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Ryan quit in March after just about six months on the job. She gave no reason to the staff for her departure. Two senators called on Atkins to explain Ryan’s resignation and whether her departure was related to cryptocurrency cases, including one touching the Trump family’s business ventures. 

Woodcock was head of the SEC’s Fort Worth, Texas office from 2011 to 2015. He also previously served as an in-house corporate attorney at Exxon Mobil and has experience as a certified public accountant.

During his previous tenure at the SEC, he served as chair of the agency’s financial reporting and audit task force, a group that aimed to crack down on accounting violations and false financial statements.

“He is a good, smart, excellent lawyer who cares about the mission of the SEC,” said Rebecca Fike, a partner at law firm Reed Smith who was an enforcement attorney in the Fort Worth office during Woodcock’s tenure. 

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Woodcock is set to take the job as SEC leadership directs staff to focus on insider trading, accounting fraud cases, market manipulation and breach of fiduciary duty by investment advisors. Atkins has criticized past agency actions, including so-called regulation by enforcement against the crypto industry. 

Enforcement cases against firms and individuals have dropped at the SEC during Trump’s second administration, as have the size of the penalties levied on firms and individuals, according to a report from Cornerstone Research. 

The agency’s recent enforcement statistics for fiscal year 2025 reported higher penalties and returns of illegal profits compared to the previous year, but those statistics were bolstered by actions at the end of the Biden administration.