Former Military Court Judge to Lead SEC Enforcement

There’s a new sheriff in SEC town, and her resume doesn’t look much like those of her predecessors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday announced that Margaret “Meg” Ryan (no, not that one, and she’s probably heard people point it out enough) will be the director of its Division of Enforcement beginning Sept. 2. What’s unusual about her background is that it’s heavy on military law rather than securities law. From 2006 to 2020, she was a judge in the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and she currently lectures on military law and justice at Harvard University Law School.

“I look forward to joining the commission in its important work to ensure that the division is true to the SEC’s mission in taking action on behalf of investors harmed by those who break the securities laws and providing an effective deterrent against fraudulent and manipulative activities in our financial markets,” Ryan said in a statement.

Enforcing Priorities

Under SEC chairman Paul Atkins, the regulator is focusing less on so-called “regulation by enforcement” of big firms and more on individual investor protection, or pursuing cases in which people are defrauded. Ryan “is fulfilling a critical role,” Atkins said in the announcement, and “will lead the division guided by Congress’ original intent: enforcing the securities laws, particularly as they relate to fraud and manipulation.” Ryan replaces Sam Waldon, chief counsel for the enforcement division, who has been serving as acting director and will return full time to the chief counsel role.

The appointment is unusual, but not necessarily a problem for the SEC, according to Igor Rozenblit, managing partner of Iron Road Partners:

• Usually, directors have backgrounds in some area of law enforcement, securities law or both.
• One way to address a potential gap in related experience is to have a highly experienced deputy director or counsel, and it’s unclear who might fill that role and how much their expertise will be used.

Curriculum victory: Ryan’s resume includes graduating first in her class from Notre Dame Law School, partnerships at two law firms and a clerkship under US Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. “Securities is a very complex area. If you haven’t really lived it, you might tend to favor simpler cases versus more complex cases,” Rozenblit said. But, “the last administration also appointed people to senior positions that didn’t have the exact backgrounds they needed,” he added. “We should all give her the benefit of the doubt.”