William Ryan

Deputy Director, Attorney

Division of Enforcement and Investigations

As Deputy Director, William Ryan supervises attorneys in investigations of possible violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, PCAOB rules, applicable federal securities laws relating to the preparation and issuance of audit reports, and professional standards. He was named deputy director in March 2012. Mr. Ryan joined the PCAOB as an assistant director in January 2007 and was promoted to associate director in March 2009.

Prior to joining the PCAOB, Mr. Ryan served for eight years as an assistant director and trial attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. At DOJ, he represented the United States at trial and on appeal in complex commercial matters, including several cases that arose from the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and 1990s.

Mr. Ryan also has worked as a teaching fellow at Columbia Law School and as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton.

He received a B.A., summa cum laude, from Tufts University and a J.D. and LL.M. from Columbia Law School.