SEC to Eliminate Regional Office Directors in Cost-Cutting Move

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly planning to eliminate the positions of regional office directors as part of a cost-cutting initiative aligned with the Trump administration's government spending reduction measures. According to a Reuters report on Feb. 24, citing two sources familiar with the matter, the SEC informed the directors of its 10 regional offices across the country that their roles would be abolished in a plan to be filed next month.

The report stated that there are no plans to close the regional offices themselves. In June, the SEC shut down its Salt Lake City hub, citing "significant attrition," which followed a $1.8 million fine imposed by a local federal judge on the agency for its "bad faith conduct" toward crypto firm DEBT Box. Two SEC lawyers involved in the case resigned in April.

The reported SEC plan comes amidst a series of changes in the country's regulatory bodies and government departments since the inauguration of Donald Trump. The president aims to cut federal spending by reducing government staff and resources, with the help of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. A DOGE-affiliated X account, seemingly focused on the SEC, posted on the Musk-owned platform on Feb. 18, asking the public to share insights on finding and fixing waste, fraud, and abuse within the agency.

The SEC, in its budget justification plan to Congress in March, requested $2.6 billion to cover its 2025 fiscal year budget, noting that it is "deficit neutral." On Feb. 20, the SEC's senior staff reportedly joined a call where agency leaders said several staff members were liaising with DOGE. One Reuters source said the agency's various departments must submit reorganization plans to acting chair Mark Uyeda by Feb. 25.

The SEC's ten regional offices span from major finance and tech hubs like New York and San Francisco to smaller cities such as Atlanta and Boston, helping to examine and investigate companies in their respective areas. Cutting the offices' regional directors will require a vote by the SEC's current three-person commission, consisting of two Republicans — Uyeda and Commissioner Hester Peirce — and one Democrat, Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw.

The SEC has already begun to scale back its regulatory focus, particularly its previous emphasis on the crypto industry under former chair Gary Gensler. The agency has reshuffled and downsized its crypto enforcement team