Former ExxonMobil lawyer David Woodcock named SEC’s next enforcement

Former ExxonMobil lawyer David Woodcock named SEC’s next enforcement

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has tapped David Woodcock, a Gibson Dunn lawyer and former company official, to be its next enforcement director after the regulator’s top cop abruptly stop last month.

Woodcock, a associate with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Dallas, will be a part of the SEC to guide the more than 1,000-person division starting May 4, the SEC said in an announcement. He will exchange Margaret Ryan, who resigned just six months into the job after clashing with the company’s leaders over the course of the enforcement program, Reuters beforehand reported.

David Woodcock will be a part of the SEC as enforcement director on May 4. Gibson Dunn

Woodcock is a longtime securities lawyer who led the SEC’s Fort Worth, Texas, regional workplace from 2011 to 2015, the place he helped create a process drive aimed toward rooting out accounting and monetary reporting misconduct, the SEC said.

Woodcock is well-known to SEC workers each in his work at the SEC and in defending purchasers in SEC investigations. After leaving the SEC in his earlier stint, Woodcock labored at Jones Day and ExxonMobil before becoming a member of Gibson Dunn, the place he’s co-chair of the agency’s securities enforcement observe group, the on-line profiles present.

“My commitment is to lead the division with the highest level of professionalism and rigor as we execute the chairman’s vision and ensure the integrity of our financial markets,” Woodcock said in an announcement.

He was thought-about for the position last 12 months, two sources conversant in the matter told Reuters. SEC Chair Paul Atkins in the end tapped Ryan, a conservative navy choose with little securities legislation experience. Ryan wished to be more aggressive in pursuing costs for fraud and other misconduct including in instances that touched the president’s circle, however confronted resistance from Atkins and other top Republican political appointees, Reuters reported.

Woodcock will exchange Margaret Ryan, who resigned after after clashing with the SEC management over the course of the enforcement program. REUTERS

The enforcement division at the SEC, the top U.S. markets regulator, has been hit by workers reductions and a reorganization under President Trump’s second administration. Some 18% of the SEC’s enforcement workers left in the fiscal 12 months that ran by September, according to a latest authorities report.

Under Trump, the SEC has overhauled its enforcement program, dismissing quite a few high-profile instances against crypto corporations including Coinbase and Binance and transferring away from large company instances with steep penalties.

“The Division of Enforcement has undergone a significant course correction, restoring Congressional intent by prioritizing cases that provide meaningful investor protection and strengthen market integrity,” Atkins said in an announcement.

The change in the SEC’s posture on enforcement has contributed to a drop-off in exercise, with the SEC bringing more than 20% fewer actions in fiscal 2025 than in the prior 12 months.

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