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By Chris Prentice
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told staff on Wednesday it plans to shake up its enforcement and exams divisions by having them report under new deputy directors, the latest in a series of changes at the agency under Republican leadership.
Under the reorganization, detailed in a memo seen by Reuters sent by acting SEC Chairman Mark Uyeda, enforcement staff will report to deputy directors for the West, Northeast or Southeast as well as a deputy director for specialized units. The SEC currently has one deputy director for the enforcement division and 10 hubs across the country where enforcement and exam staff report up to a director of each office.
Exam staff will report to new associate directors, the memo said.
The moves come as Wall Street's top regulator faces a mass exodus, with hundreds agreeing to take resignation offers amid efforts by President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk to remake the U.S. government, Reuters has reported.
A spokesperson for the SEC confirmed the changes, saying they "are intended to improve efficiency, management, and oversight of the Divisions."
The changes are effective April 9, the memo said.
"The sheer number of reporting senior officers has created management challenges," Uyeda said in the memo, adding the current structure "simply cannot be sustained" and noting the enforcement director has more than 40 direct reports.
Uyeda cited management weaknesses behind last year's closure of the Salt Lake City, Utah, office in his memo to staff. The regional hub was shuttered following a high-profile failure in a case against a cryptocurrency firm which saw a judge censure the agency.
Reuters previously reported the agency was planning to cut regional directors. Wednesday's memo announced the reassignment of nine of those regional directors into new roles. The SEC's offices will still have directors to handle operations, the memo said.
Three of the current regional directors have been reassigned as deputy directors of the new regions: Katherine Zoladz from Los Angeles will oversee the West, Atlanta's Nekia Jones will run the Southeast, New York's Antonia Apps will supervise the Northeast. Denver's Jason Burt will oversee the specialized units, the memo said.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice; editing by Pete Schroeder, Chizu Nomiyama and Nia Williams)
