Washington, D.C., Nov. 29, 2007 - The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Peter H. Bresnan, Deputy Director of Enforcement, will leave the Commission on December 5. He will become a partner in the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, in the firm's Washington office.
Since joining Commission staff, Mr. Bresnan has led some of the most challenging and significant investigations and enforcement actions in Commission history, including landmark settlements with WorldCom and several mutual fund market timers.
"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, "Peter has had a remarkable and varied career at the SEC and he has excelled at every stage along the way. 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."
Mr. Bresnan said, "It has been an honor and a privilege to work for the past 12 years with a group of dedicated and talented professionals who exemplify the very best in public service. Working with others on the SEC staff to protect investors and safeguard capital markets has been immensely rewarding, both personally and professionally."
Mr. Bresnan joined the Commission's staff in April 1995 as Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel. In November 2001, he became the Deputy Chief Litigation Counsel, and shared responsibility for managing the Commission's nationwide litigation program. Bresnan also served as the Acting District Administrator of the Boston District Office from November 2003 to April 2004, and as an Associate Director in the SEC's Washington office from April 2004 to November 2005. For the past two years, Bresnan has served as one of the Enforcement Division's two Deputy Directors. In that role, he assisted the Director in the overall management of the Enforcement program and in the formulation and implementation of the Division's priorities.
Among groundbreaking cases, Mr. Bresnan was the Commission's lead trial counsel in the WorldCom lawsuit in which the Commission obtained the largest civil penalty ever levied for a violation of the federal securities laws. Recently, he was responsible for finalizing the Commission's financial fraud actions against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As an Associate Director, Mr. Bresnan led the investigations that resulted in actions against former senior executives at Kmart, as well as actions involving Instinet, Ford Motor Credit Company, and the Wood River hedge funds. During his tenure as the interim head of the SEC's Boston office, Mr. Bresnan spearheaded the Commission's market timing cases against Putnam, Massachusetts Financial Services Company, and two subsidiaries of FleetBoston. Earlier, he successfully resolved the Commission's first litigated yield-burning case and litigated the Commission's first fraud case against an offshore hedge fund and its manager.
Mr. Bresnan received the Commission's Stanley Sporkin Award, which recognizes those who have made "exceptionally tenacious and insightful contributions" to the enforcement of the federal securities laws. He earned his undergraduate degree from Kenyon College and his law degree from Fordham University Law School.