The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Brian V. Breheny, the Deputy Director for Legal and Regulatory Policy in the Division of Corporation Finance, will depart the agency after more than seven years of public service.
Mr. Breheny joined the SEC staff in July 2003 and has played a key role in the Division’s policy and interpretive functions. He began as Chief of the SEC’s Office of Mergers and Acquisitions, and in November 2007 he became a Deputy Director with responsibility for the Division’s legal and regulatory policy support offices. Mr. Breheny will become a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
“Brian has played a key role in a wide range of important Division initiatives during his seven years at the Commission, and our nation’s investors have benefited greatly from his dedicated service to investor protection,” said Meredith Cross, Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. “While I was only able to work with him for a small part of his time here, his guidance and leadership have been invaluable to us and we will miss him very much.”
Mr. Breheny said, “It has been an honor to serve as a member of the Commission staff and to work with the smart, dedicated and hard working people in the Division of Corporation Finance and throughout the Commission. I am proud of all that we have accomplished together.”
During his tenure, Mr. Breheny assisted the Commission with its consideration of significant rule amendments in a number of areas including shareholder director nominations, tender offers, beneficial ownership reporting, electronic delivery of proxy materials, electronic shareholder forums, short sale disclosure, and proxy voting and shareholder communications.
Mr. Breheny received the SEC’s Law and Policy Award earlier this year for his work with the SEC’s Office of Legislative Affairs on regulatory reform matters. He also has been awarded the Commission’s Regulatory Simplification Award for his work on the amendments to the tender offer best-price rule, and the Supervisory Excellence Award, for his leadership of the Office of Mergers & Acquisitions. He received the Equal Employment Opportunity Award for his participation with the development and presentation of an advanced securities law class at Howard University School of Law.
Prior to joining the SEC staff, Mr. Breheny worked as an associate for seven years in the New York and London offices of law firm Clifford Chance US LLP. He began his career as a Certified Public Accountant with KPMG LLP. Mr. Breheny was an adjunct securities law faculty member at the Georgetown University Law Center for a number of years. He continues to lecture at both Georgetown and Howard University School of Law.
Mr. Breheny earned a JD, cum laude, in 1996 from St. John’s University School of Law, where he was an editor of the St. John's Journal of Legal Commentary. He received his BS in Accounting from St. John’s University’s Peter J. Tobin School of Business Administration in 1990.