SEC's No. 2 Enforcement Official Sam Waldon to Depart July 31

The Securities and Exchange Commission said on July 22 that Sam Waldon, Principal Deputy Director of its Division of Enforcement, will leave the agency on July 31, 2026, after more than 14 years. He will be replaced by Osman Nawaz, a former SEC attorney who worked at the agency from 2010 to 2024 and rejoined last month, according to the SEC's press release.

Waldon spent much of the leadership transition running Enforcement day to day. Per the SEC, he was Acting Deputy Director from October 2024 to January 2025, then served as Acting Director of Enforcement on two separate occasions across 2025 and 2026 — the stretch during which the Atkins-led Commission wound down much of its predecessor's crypto litigation. He was Chief Counsel of the division from 2022 to 2024 and, before that, Assistant Chief Counsel and a staff attorney. The agency said he won its Philip A. Loomis, Jr. Award in 2011.

Chairman Paul S. Atkins and Enforcement Director David Woodcock both issued praise in the announcement. Woodcock said Waldon's "steadfast commitment" and mentorship "will be sorely missed." Waldon, in his own statement, thanked Atkins and Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, and said his colleagues had worked "under incredibly challenging circumstances." He did not elaborate on that phrase, and the release gives no reason for his exit or his next destination.

Nawaz previously held roles including staff attorney, Assistant Regional Director, and Chief of the Complex Financial Instruments Unit, per the SEC.

Key facts

• Sam Waldon departs the SEC on July 31, 2026, after 14+ years — SEC press release, July 22, 2026.
• Osman Nawaz named successor as Principal Deputy Director; he served at the SEC 2010–2024 and rejoined last month — SEC.
• Waldon was Acting Director of Enforcement twice, in 2025 and 2026; Acting Deputy Director Oct 2024–Jan 2025 — SEC.
• No reason for the departure and no next role were disclosed — SEC release.

The real-world read

This is the SEC's own farewell notice, so read the warmth accordingly — agencies rarely publish an unkind send-off. What the release does not say is more telling than what it does: no reason for the departure, no landing spot, and only Waldon's oblique reference to "incredibly challenging circumstances." That phrasing lands during a period in which the Atkins Commission dropped or paused a swath of crypto cases inherited from the Gensler era, and Waldon was the acting hand on Enforcement through much of it. Whether his exit reflects that shift or ordinary post-transition turnover, the release doesn't say — and readers should resist filling the gap. Note too that Nawaz is a boomerang hire brought back specifically last month, suggesting the succession was arranged in advance rather than improvised.

Opinion, and whose

The only characterizations here — that Waldon's impact "will endure" and that Enforcement "has never been in better hands" — come from Atkins, Woodcock, and Waldon himself. Those are colleagues' tributes, not independent assessments.

Sources

• SEC, Press Release (July 22, 2026) — primary source; announced the departure date, Nawaz's appointment, Waldon's roles and tenure, and the quoted statements. This is the agency's own personnel announcement and reads as such.

This is news, not financial or legal advice.