Former ExxonMobil lawyer David Woodcock named – Business News
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has tapped David Woodcock, a Gibson Dunn lawyer and former company official, to be its subsequent enforcement director after the regulator’s prime cop abruptly give up final month.
Woodcock, a associate with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Dallas, will be part of the SEC to steer the more than 1,000-person division starting May 4, the SEC stated in a assertion. He will substitute Margaret Ryan, who resigned simply six months into the job after clashing with the company’s leaders over the direction of the enforcement program, Reuters beforehand reported.
David Woodcock will be 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 activity drive aimed toward rooting out accounting and financial reporting misconduct, the SEC stated.
Woodcock is well-known to SEC employees each in his work on the SEC and in defending shoppers in SEC investigations. After leaving the SEC in his earlier stint, Woodcock labored at Jones Day and ExxonMobil earlier than becoming a member of Gibson Dunn, the place he’s co-chair of the firm’s securities enforcement observe group, the online profiles show.
“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 stated in a assertion.
He was thought-about for the position final yr, two sources accustomed to the matter advised Reuters. SEC Chair Paul Atkins finally tapped Ryan, a conservative army choose with little securities law expertise. Ryan wished to be more aggressive in pursuing prices for fraud and different misconduct together with in circumstances that touched the president’s circle, however confronted resistance from Atkins and different prime Republican political appointees, Reuters reported.
Woodcock will substitute Margaret Ryan, who resigned after after clashing with the SEC management over the direction of the enforcement program. REUTERS
The enforcement division on the SEC, the highest U.S. markets regulator, has been hit by employees reductions and a reorganization beneath President Trump’s second administration. Some 18% of the SEC’s enforcement employees left within the fiscal yr that ran by way of September, in line with a current authorities report.
Under Trump, the SEC has overhauled its enforcement program, dismissing quite a few high-profile circumstances towards crypto companies together with Coinbase and Binance and shifting away from massive company circumstances 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 stated in a assertion.
The change within 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 within the prior yr.
