Katherine Reilly was appointed SEC Acting Inspector General following the resignation of Deborah Jeffrey, who had led the Office of Inspector General since 2023. Before this, Katherine Reilly served as Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations, and we may likely see certain shifts in the approach to independent auditing of the SEC’s operational integrity and effectiveness.
What Katherine Reilly’s Appointment May Mean for the Crypto Industry
A bit more about Katherine Reilly: before stepping into the role of Acting Inspector General and replacing Deborah Jeffrey, she had already served as Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations from December 2022 to March 2025. Before that, she held senior positions at the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), including Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Mission Support, as well as at the U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review, where she was Chief Counsel for Employee and Labor Relations and Deputy Director.
In other words, Katherine Reilly’s background is extensive and substantive, and she will now apply that experience to auditing all SEC operations, including enforcement processes – which also cover investigations related to digital asset markets.
According to the press release, SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said:
“Our Inspector General’s office champions transparency and seeks to root out redundancy and overlap to ensure our agency is running as efficiently and effectively as possible. Katherine possesses the experience and expertise to continue these oversight efforts. We also thank Deb for her leadership and dedication in this area during these past two years.”
Considering the SEC’s recent structural initiatives around digital assets, including roundtables that are taking place, it will be interesting to observe what stance Reilly takes. On the one hand, Reilly may help drive these efforts and make SEC-led initiatives even more effective from within. On the other hand, Reilly may adopt a more critical posture and act as a blocker, preventing the SEC from making hasty decisions.
Conclusion
Whether Katherine Reilly will take a pro-crypto, anti-crypto, or neutral stance remains to be seen, and will likely become clearer through her first actions and their consequences. However, it is reasonable to assume a significant probability of a pro-crypto alignment, as recent agency appointments appear to reflect that broader trend.
