Marc Berger, most recently acting director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, will join Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in June as a partner in its litigation department, the law firm announced.

Berger became acting director of the Enforcement Division in December 2020, when Director Stephanie Avakian announced her departure. Prior to that role, Berger had been the Division’s deputy director since August 2020. The SEC announced Berger’s departure in January.

A former federal prosecutor, Berger joined the SEC as director of the agency’s New York Regional Office in December 2017. Under his leadership, enforcement staff pursued a broad array of cases, including accounting and other financial fraud, market structure and abusive trading practices, FCPA and anti-corruption, investment advisory issues, and emerging issues involving cyber-threats and digital assets.

Prior to his tenure at the SEC, Berger served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, including within the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, where he was chief from 2012-14. Berger was previously a litigation partner at law firm Ropes & Gray and global co-head of the firm’s securities and enforcement practice.