SEC Announces Retirement of Division of Corporation Finance Deputy Director Cicely LaMothe

The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (“Corp Fin”) is the group that oversees what public companies tell investors. It mainly:

• Reviews registration statements and periodic reports (like 10‑Ks and 10‑Qs) to check that companies give full, fair, and accurate information.
• Helps write and interpret SEC rules about corporate disclosure, securities offerings, and reporting.
• Gives guidance to companies and their lawyers about how to comply with these rules. The goal is to make sure investors get the information they need to make informed investing and voting decisions in the public markets.

The Deputy Director of the Division of Corporation Finance is one of the top leaders of the division (essentially second-in-command to the Director). In Cicely LaMothe’s case, as Deputy Director for Disclosure Operations, her responsibilities included:

• Overseeing multiple disclosure review offices that examine public company filings.
• Supervising staff who review registration statements and periodic reports and who comment on companies’ disclosures.
• Helping set and carry out division policy on how the SEC’s disclosure rules are applied in practice and advising senior SEC leadership. These duties support the division’s core mission of ensuring high‑quality information for investors.

Public reporting to date does not identify who will replace Cicely LaMothe as Deputy Director or whether anyone has been named to serve in that role on an acting basis after her retirement announcement on Dec. 29, 2025. Available SEC and secondary sources describe her earlier service as Acting Director of the division (before James Moloney became Director in September 2025) but do not state a successor for her Deputy Director position.

Cicely LaMothe began working at the SEC in 2002, when she joined the Division of Corporation Finance. Over her career there, she held several senior roles, including:

• Program Director of the Disclosure Review Program
• Associate Director of the Office of Assessment and Continuous Improvement
• Associate Director of Disclosure Operations
• Deputy Director, Disclosure Operations (from February 2023) She also served as Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance after Director Erik Gerding’s departure and before James Moloney’s appointment as Director in 2025.

Based on publicly available information, there is no indication that Cicely LaMothe’s retirement has changed, paused, or canceled any specific SEC rulemakings, filing reviews, or enforcement matters. Leadership changes in a division can influence priorities and internal oversight, but the SEC typically continues ongoing work through its broader staff and remaining leadership, and no particular actions have been reported as halted or altered because of her departure.

You can read the full SEC press release about Cicely LaMothe’s retirement here:

• SEC press release (Dec. 29, 2025): "SEC Announces Retirement of Division of Corporation Finance Deputy Director Cicely LaMothe" – https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-145-sec-announces-retirement-division-corporation-finance-deputy-director-cicely-lamothe For additional context on her prior roles and leadership transitions in the division, you can also review:
• SEC press release naming her Deputy Director (Feb. 14, 2023): https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023-27
• SEC press release on the appointment of James Moloney as Director (Sept. 10, 2025): https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2025-115-james-moloney-named-director-division-corporation-finance