SEC Names Monique Winkler as Regional Director of San Francisco Office

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Monique C. Winkler has been named Regional Director of the San Francisco Regional Office. Ms. Winkler has served as the office’s Acting Regional Director since March 2022 and as the Associate Regional Director for Enforcement in the San Francisco Regional Office since 2019.

“I am pleased that Monique will continue to lead our San Francisco Regional Office in a permanent capacity,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “She has worked on a number of important cases that have held market participants accountable. Investors will continue to benefit from her leadership.”

As Director of the San Francisco Regional Office, Ms. Winkler will lead a staff of more than 140 attorneys, accountants, investigators, securities compliance examiners, and other personnel involved in the prosecution of enforcement actions and performance of compliance examinations across northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

“Monique is a proven leader within the Division of Enforcement, as shown by more than a decade’s worth of important, effective investigations,” said Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s Director of Enforcement. “I am excited to continue to work with her and her talented colleagues as they continue their critical work on behalf of investors.”

“Monique has a proven record of vigorously protecting investors and deftly leading the enforcement program in the San Francisco office,” said Richard R. Best, Director of the SEC’s Division of Examinations. “We are thrilled that she will now also head our talented San Francisco examinations team and we are excited about working more closely with her.”

Ms. Winkler said, “It is an honor and privilege to have the opportunity to serve as Regional Director. I am constantly impressed with the talent and commitment exhibited by the staff in San Francisco, and I look forward to continuing to work with them to protect investors, strengthen compliance, and prosecute violations of the securities laws.”

Ms. Winkler has held a variety of leadership roles in both the San Francisco Regional Office and the Division of Enforcement. During her time at the SEC, she has investigated or supervised numerous significant enforcement matters, including cases against: three investment adviser subsidiaries of Charles Schwab; alternative data provider App Annie Inc. and its co-founder; a former finance manager at Amazon.com Inc.; and Theranos Inc., its founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes, and its former President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani.

Ms. Winkler began working at the SEC’s Division of Enforcement as a staff attorney in the San Francisco office in 2008 and joined the division’s Public Finance Abuse Unit in 2010. She was promoted to Assistant Regional Director in 2015 and Associate Regional Director for Enforcement in 2019. Prior to joining the SEC staff, Ms. Winkler practiced securities and complex commercial litigation. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology magna cum laude from Indiana University and her law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law.