The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Los Angeles office is stepping down after 5 1/2 years of cases against mutual fund managers, corporate offenders and scam artists, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Randall R. Lee said Tuesday that he would step down June 30 as chief of the agency’s third-largest regional office, after New York and Chicago. No successor was named. The office has about 160 staff members and oversees enforcement and examination programs in nine Western states.

Lee, 45, said he would seek work at a law firm or in the corporate world. Lee, the first Asian American to head a regional SEC office, spent 7 1/2 years as a federal fraud prosecutor in L.A. before joining the agency.

After 13 years in government, “it just seemed it was time for a change,” said Lee, married with two young children. “I’m proud of the cases we brought. My objective was to bring cases that made a difference , whether by virtue of the number of victims, the egregiousness of the fraud or the fact that they shed light on unsavory industry practices.”

Read the full L.A. Times story

.(registration required)