SEC plans to cut regional directors: Sources

(Reuters) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to remove the top leaders at regional offices across the country as part of its cost-cutting recommendations to the Trump administration, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

The SEC on Friday told directors across its 10 regional offices that their roles will be eliminated as part of the plan the agency submits next month, the sources told Reuters.

The plan is the latest in a series of changes at the top U.S. markets regulator since Republicans took the helm at the commission and is part of a broader effort by Republican President Donald Trump, alongside special adviser and billionaire Elon Musk, to purge the federal workforce.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity as the discussions are not public. A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment.

Many of the SEC’s staff are based at its headquarters in Washington, but the agency also has officials in offices from San Francisco to Miami who deal with examinations and investigations into public companies, brokers and investment advisers in their jurisdictions. They often lead agency investigations and lawsuits in high-profile matters.

“The regional leadership is what the home office has always looked to for making decisions about enforcement cases and exams. This is a difficult layer to remove,” said Andrew M. Calamari, a partner with Finn Dixon & Herling LLP and former director of the SEC’s New York office.