The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) announced the appointment of Mark Adler as acting director of its Division of Enforcement and Investigations.

Adler, who previously worked nearly 10 years at the organization before retiring in 2020, will return to his former role with current enforcement director Patrick Bryan set to depart Thursday.

Bryan had succeeded Adler in 2020.

During Adler’s tenure as acting director from June 2018 to January 2020, the division brought cases that addressed auditor misconduct at large and small audit firms involving both U.S. and non-U.S. auditors. He also represented the PCAOB in the Enforcement Working Group of the International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators, leading workshops on a variety of enforcement topics.

Before serving as acting director, Adler held the role of deputy director and chief trial counsel and oversaw and litigated complex enforcement proceedings.

Before joining the PCAOB in 2010, he worked for 13 years at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Division of Enforcement, where he served as both acting chief and deputy chief litigation counsel. During his SEC tenure, he litigated and advised on a wide range of matters, including complex financial fraud, insider trading, offering fraud, and emergency relief cases.

Adler also spent more than nine years at the Department of Justice, where he investigated, prosecuted, and tried major white-collar criminal cases. Early in his career, he handled civil litigation and other general commercial matters in private practice in New York.

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