Peter H. Bresnan is a litigation partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and member of the Firm's Government and Internal Investigations practice. Mr. Bresnan's practice includes a broad range of business regulatory and corporate governance matters, including representing corporations, financial institutions and individuals in SEC and other regulatory enforcement proceedings. In addition, Mr. Bresnan conducts internal investigations on behalf of management and boards of directors. He regularly counsels clients on SEC reporting, disclosure, compliance and corporate governance requirements.
Mr. Bresnan joined the Firm following a 12-year tenure at the Securities and Exchange Commission, most recently as Deputy Director, Division of Enforcement, where he was responsible for supervising all enforcement matters in the SEC's Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Bresnan led a number of major enforcement actions, including as the SEC's lead trial counsel in the WorldCom case. Mr. Bresnan was also responsible for the Commission's actions against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Mr. Bresnan led significant investigations involving a broad variety of subjects, including alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, issuer accounting fraud and other disclosure violations, stock options backdating, mutual fund market timing and late trading, market manipulation, broker-dealer misconduct and insider trading.
During his career at the SEC, Mr. Bresnan had numerous roles, including as Acting District Administrator for the SEC's Boston office where his responsibilities included oversight of the office's enforcement program as well as its examinations of brokerage firms, investment advisers and other registered entities. Mr. Bresnan also served as the SEC's Deputy Chief Litigation Counsel, sharing responsibility for managing the Commission's nationwide litigation program.
Mr. Bresnan is the 2004 recipient of the SEC'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 J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1982 and his B.A. from Kenyon College in 1977.