Fraud, Market Manipulation and Misconduct Likely to be Focus of New SEC Enforcement Chief

In an interview with Dow Jones Risk Journal, Pillsbury partner David Oliwenstein said that Ryan’s lack of a long securities-law record leaves practitioners with few clues as to what her approach might be, but the language in the press release announcing her appointment indicates her focus will be on policing fraud, market manipulation, and intentional misconduct.

He added that she will likely face many questions from the enforcement staff on the future of the agency’s enforcement program as she settles into the job.

The agency’s enforcement lawyers will likely want to understand “the scope of enforcement during the next three-and-a-half years and the extent to which line-level enforcers will retain discretion to determine what conduct warrants an investigation and in how they conduct their investigations,” said Oliwenstein, a former SEC enforcement lawyer.