Giovanni P. Prezioso

Giovanni P. Prezioso is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary Gottlieb. He represents major corporations and financial institutions in securities regulation and enforcement matters, as well as corporate governance and regulatory matters.

From 2002 to 2006, Giovanni served as general counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission during a time of unprecedented enforcement and regulatory activity. During his tenure, he was responsible for implementing the enforcement and regulatory provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

He is distinguished as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US and Benchmark Litigation, and was named one of the “Most Influential Lawyers of the Decade” by The National Law Journal. Giovanni currently serves as a member of the Executive Council of the Federal Bar Association Securities Law Committee (Chairman 2006–2010) and the Securities Board of Editors of the LexisNexis Publishing Company.

Giovanni joined the firm in 1982 and became partner in 1991. He left Cleary in 2002 upon his appointment to the SEC and returned to the firm in 2006. Giovanni received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his A.B. from Harvard College.