SEC Deputy Director Joins Private Firm

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Deputy Enforcement Director Peter Bresnan will leave his post Dec. 5 to become a partner with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Bresnan has been with the SEC since 1995 and served as lead trial counsel in the lawsuit against WorldCom and was responsible for finalizing the SEC's financial fraud actions against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“Peter has been an eloquent and passionate advocate for investors' interests,” said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. “His strong leadership of our national enforcement program has upheld the SEC's preeminence as the gold standard of securities law enforcement. Investors large and small, America's capital markets, and the entire nation have had a courageous champion in Peter Bresnan. His many years of outstanding public service place all of us deeply in his debt.”

Linda Chatman Thomsen, the director of the division of enforcement, said, “Time and again, when faced with a difficult challenge, we turned to Peter. And time and again, he met the challenge with characteristic excellent judgment, hard work, great skills and quiet good humor. Investors are better off because Peter was here. And all of us who have had the privilege of working with him are better off, too.”