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.

Publications

•	As Judicial Scrutiny of the SEC’s Settlement Practices Mounts, the SEC Adopts a Limited Change to Its ‘Neither Admit Nor Deny’ Policy
•	Supreme Court Considers Tolling of Statute of Limitations in Section 16(b) Claims
•	Reflections on Dodd-Frank: A Look Back and a Look Forward
•	Peter Bresnan, Mark J. Stein and Nicholas Goldin, "SEC’s First Deferred Prosecution Agreement Sheds Light on Cooperation Initiative," BNA’s Daily Report for Executives (June 8, 2011) and BNA’s World Securities Law Report (July 2011)
•	The Supreme Court Limits Rule 10b-5 Liability to Person or Entity Making Alleged Misstatement
•	The Supreme Court Rejects Loss Causation Requirement at Class Certification Stage
•	SEC Announces Final Rules Implementing The Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program
•	Shedding More Light on Its Cooperation Initiative, the SEC Announces Its First Deferred Prosecution Agreement
•	Last Week’s FCPA Decision In The Government’s Favor Is A Limited Setback For Subjects Of Federal Corruption Inquiries
•	The Supreme Court Considers Loss Causation at Time of Class Certification
•	The Supreme Court Rejects Bright-Line Rule on Disclosure of Adverse Event Reports
•	Renault’s Mea Culpa This Week: A Reminder Of What Can Happen When A Company Investigating A Whistleblower Claim Is Misled
•	The Supreme Court Finds No Conflict Pre-emption Based on Federal Seatbelt Regulation
•	The Supreme Court Finds Design Defect Claims Preempted under the Vaccine Act
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Materiality Requirement in the Context of Drug Companies’ Disclosure of Adverse Event Reports
•	Shedding Light on Its New Cooperation Initiative, the SEC Announces Its First Non-Prosecution Agreement with a Public Company
•	In Vacating the Conviction of Network Associates' Former CFO, the Ninth Circuit Reminds Prosecutors That Accounting Fraud Prosecutions Carry A High Evidentiary Burden
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Liability of Investment Advisers in Federal Securities Fraud Cases
•	The Sweeping Whistleblower Provisions Tucked Inside Dodd-Frank: Why And How Companies Should Prepare For a New Era of Corporate Whistleblowing
•	The Supreme Court Considers Conflict Preemption Case Concerning Federal Seatbelt Regulation
•	The Supreme Court Hears Express Preemption Case Relating to Alleged Vaccine Design Defect
•	The Supreme Court Affirms the Constitutional Validity of the PCAOB; Strikes Down “Double For-Cause” Removal Provisions as Unconstitutional
•	The Supreme Court Limits the Extraterritorial Application of the Antifraud Provisions of the U.S. Securities Laws
•	The Supreme Court Holds That The “Honest-Services” Fraud Statute Covers Only Bribery and Kickback Schemes
•	The Supreme Court Holds That Arbitrators, Not Courts, May Decide Challenges To The Enforceability Of Stand-Alone Arbitration Agreements
•	Jonathan K. Youngwood and Peter H. Bresnan, "Supreme Court Rejects 'Inquiry Notice' as Trigger of Limitations Period in Securities Fraud Cases," Westlaw Journal: Corporate Officers & Directors Liability (May 2010)
•	The Supreme Court Vacates Arbitrators' Decision Allowing Class Arbitration Based Solely On Arbitrators' Own Policy Views
•	The Supreme Court Rejects “Inquiry Notice” as Trigger to Start Running the Statute of Limitations in Securities Fraud Cases
•	The Supreme Court Examines Whether Courts Must Decide the Enforceability of Arbitration Clauses Challenged as Unconscionable
•	The Supreme Court Adopts the Gartenberg Standard to Determine Whether an Investment Adviser Breached its Fiduciary Duty in Approving Fees
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Application of the Antifraud Provisions of the United States Securities Laws in “Foreign-Cubed” Cases
•	SEC Announces Significant New Initiatives to Encourage Cooperation in Investigations and Enforcement Actions
•	Jonathan K. Youngwood and Peter H. Bresnan, "Hearing Merck:  The Supreme Court Considers the ‘Inquiry Notice’ Standard in Federal Securities Fraud Cases," Securities Litigation Report:  Volume 7, Issue 1 (December/January 2010)
•	The Supreme Court Considers Whether Class Arbitration is Permitted When the Arbitration Clause is Silent on the Issue
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
•	The Supreme Court Considers the ‘Inquiry Notice’ Standard in Federal Securities Fraud Cases
•	Regulators Take Aim at Acts of Foreign Bribery: Heightened Necessity for Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Compliance Programs and Procedures
•	The Heightened Pleading Standard of Twombly Applies to All Federal Civil Claims
•	New SEC Chairman Schapiro Announces Changes Aimed at Reinvigorating Enforcement Program
•	Supreme Court Finds in a “Lights” Cigarettes Case That Claims for Violation of a State Statutory Duty Not to Deceive Are Not Preempted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act
•	Supreme Court Hears Its Second Significant Preemption Case This Term
•	The Supreme Court Considers the Extent of Federal Subject Matter Jurisdiction Under the FAA
•	The Supreme Court Revisits the Preemption of State Law Consumer Protection Claims
•	The Supreme Court Limits Punitive Damages Award In The Exxon Valdez Case To 1:1 Ratio To Compensatory Damages
•	Supreme Court Upholds Tax Treatment In Which Only In-State Governmental Bonds Are Tax-Exempt
•	The Supreme Court Rules Against TV’s “Judge Alex,” Finding That an Agreement to Arbitrate Trumps State Administrative Process
•	Supreme Court Hears Argument in its Second Significant Arbitration Case this Term
•	The Supreme Court Rejects "Scheme" Liability For Secondary Actors In The Absence Of Actual Reliance On The Deceptive Conduct Or A Separate Duty To Speak

Speaking Engagements

•	Peter Bresnan Speaks at the 2010 SEC Conference December 15, 2010
•	Peter H. Bresnan to Speak at ABA’s Fifth Annual National Institute on Securities Fraud October 7, 2010
•	Leiming Chen and Peter H. Bresnan to Speak at CPE Conference on SEC Reporting & SOX 404 Compliance in Shanghai May 26, 2010
•	Peter H. Bresnan Spoke at CPE Conference on SOX 404 Compliance and SEC Reporting in Virginia May 26, 2010
•	Peter H. Bresnan to Moderate a Panel at PLI's "Enforcement 2010: Multi-Agency Enforcement Efforts in the New Decade" Program May 13, 2010
•	Peter H. Bresnan and Robert E. Spatt Speak at the 28th Annual Federal Securities Institute February 18, 2010

Admissions

•	District of Columbia 2010
•	New York 1985
•	U.S. District Court Southern District of New York 1989
•	U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York 1989

Education

•	Fordham University School of Law, 1982 J.D.
•	Kenyon College, 1977 B.A.