Cicely LaMothe Retires After 24 Years at SEC Amid Major Crypto Policy Shifts
Cicely LaMothe, the Securities and Exchange Commission's deputy director of the Division of Corporation Finance, announced her retirement after a 24-year career. She joined the division in 2002 and served as deputy director for disclosure operations starting in 2022. LaMothe acted as director until Jim Moloney was appointed lead in September 2025.
During her tenure, LaMothe oversaw seven Corporation Finance Staff Statements related to cryptocurrency topics such as liquid staking, stablecoins, mining, meme coins, and crypto exchange-traded products. These statements aimed to clarify disclosure requirements for companies dealing with digital assets.
Her departure coincides with significant shifts in SEC policy under Chair Paul Atkins, who was appointed in April 2025. Since the inauguration of the Trump administration, the SEC has reduced its crypto enforcement actions by approximately 60%, increasingly employing warning notices rather than direct enforcement. The agency also launched a Crypto Task Force and is actively pursuing an innovation exemption designed to support crypto firms experimenting with blockchain services, with potential finalization expected by the end of the year.
Atkins has publicly described the majority of tokens as not constituting securities and supports trading of tokenized assets with rights equivalent to their underlying instruments.
LaMothe's work attracted congressional scrutiny in September 2025 concerning Tron's Nasdaq listing. Lawmakers Jeff Merkley and Sean Casten questioned her oversight of the Tron reverse merger and a February pause in enforcement against Tron founder Justin Sun. The issues raised involved concerns about foreign ties and national security implications.
