Less than a month after announcing her decision to step down as head of enforcement at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Susan Merrill has joined Bingham McCutchen as a partner in the firm's broker-dealer group in New York.

Merrill will lead Bingham’s enforcement practice and will advise financial industry clients on regulatory and securities enforcement matters. As FINRA’s executive vice president and chief of enforcement, she led the division that was responsible for investigating and prosecuting violations of federal securities laws and FINRA rules governing securities firms.

In 2004, Merrill joined New York Stock Exchange Regulation as its enforcement chief. She continued in that role when much of NYSE Regulation merged with the National Association of Securities Dealers in 2007 to form FINRA. Prior to joining NYSE Regulation, Merrill was a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell for 10 years where she represented leading broker-dealers, investment advisers, and Fortune 500 companies in investigations before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the NYSE, and the NASD. She also conducted internal investigations and consulted on regulatory compliance matters.