About 500 staffers at the Securities & Exchange Commission have agreed to leave the agency in response to its $50,000 buyout and deferred-resignation offers, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
The divisions of enforcement, exams and the office of the general counsel will experience some of the more significant departures, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information. The number may climb even higher as additional people accept the buyout ahead of Friday’s deadline for the $50,000 incentive. Some of the departures may not take place until later this year.
The total represents about 10% of the roughly 5,000 employees at the agency. Some former staff have expressed concern that the agency will be unable to handle a financial crisis, should one arise, given the talent drain.
To qualify for the buyout offer, employees must have been on the agency’s payroll before Jan. 24. They must voluntarily leave through resignation, transfer to another agency or immediate retirement. If they accept a voluntary separation agreement and return to the SEC within five years, they must pay back the incentive in full.
An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment on the departures.
More cost cuts are on the agency’s agenda. The SEC plans to eliminate the leases for its Los Angeles and Philadelphia offices. The General Services Administration has also explored ending the Chicago office’s lease, though that could come with a significant financial penalty, Bloomberg has reported.
Regional offices oversee a hefty portion of exams and enforcement work. The most-senior positions at regional offices have also been cut, though the individuals in those roles aren’t being forced out.
The SEC cuts have been criticized as inconsistent with the administration’s mission to reduce federal-government costs.
“The Trump administration may claim that all agencies should be reduced in size by a roughly similar margin, in effect sharing proportionate reductions,” Columbia Law School professors John Coates, John Coffee Jr., James Cox, Merritt Fox and Joel Seligman wrote in a blog post last week. “But this ignores one extraordinary fact about the SEC: It consistently has generated more in fees than in operating expenses.”
Reuters reported earlier Friday that hundreds would leave.