Private Credit, Retail Fraud Top SEC’s Enforcement Priority List

The new head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division is keeping an eye on stress in the private credit market and retail investor fraud, signaling the top cop’s priorities a week into the job.

“Our focus is, and will remain, on protecting investors and safeguarding markets from real harm,” SEC Enforcement Director David Woodcock said in a speechWednesday at a Managed Funds Association conference in New York.

Woodcock’s broader priorities mirror those telegraphed by Chairman Paul Atkins, who has said the SEC would focus on “back to basics” targets like disclosure fraud, insider trading ...