Kara Brockmeyer, chief of enforcement for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and a 17-year veteran at the Securities and Exchange Commission, is leaving the agency at a time when a new administration is looking at how it might change enforcement of bribery laws.

Brockmeyer, who was not available for comment, has led the FCPA unit of 38 attorneys and other professionals since 2011. She founded and served as co-head of the Enforcement Division's Cross-Border Working Group, which focused on U.S. companies with large foreign operations. She said Tuesday she plans to leave at the end of April.

Danforth Newcomb, who founded the anti-corruption practice at Shearman & Sterling where he is now of counsel, said how much impact her leaving has on the unit would depend on who replaces her.