SEC Division of Enforcement Appoints New Director, Releases Enforcement Results for FY 2025

On April 8, the SEC announced the appointment of David Woodcock as Director of the Division of Enforcement effective May 4, 2026. Mr. Woodcock is currently a partner and chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP’s Securities and Enforcement Practice Group and was previously Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office from 2011 to 2015. 


The Division of Enforcement has also announced its enforcement results for fiscal year 2025.   The Division reported 456 total enforcement actions, the lowest number in over 20 years, and approximately $17.9 billion in monetary relief. Unlike prior reports, the FY2025 report noted that 1095 matters had been closed without enforcement action, consistent with SEC Chairman Atkins statement in the report that the SEC had “put a stop to regulation by enforcement and recentered its enforcement program on the Commission’s core mission by prioritizing cases that provide meaningful investor protection and strengthen market integrity.”


Atkins further noted that the Division was deploying resources towards the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm, with the report highlighting cases aligned with the objectives of protecting retail investors, holding individual wrongdoers accountable, combating securities fraud and safeguarding markets from abusive trading.  The report also addressed emerging technologies, noting that the Division had taken a ‘course correction’ in its approach to enforcing the federal securities laws in the context of crypto assets by dismissing crypto cases that did not result in investor harm while continuing to detect, deter, and bring actions against those seeking to take advantage of investors by misusing new technologies. 

Click here for the Director of the Division of Enforcement Appointment SEC Press Release.

Click here for the FY 2025 Division of Enforcement Results SEC Press Release.