Stephen Cutler, who led many of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's investigations into mutual fund abuses, is re-joining Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, the US law firm he left as partner when he joined the SEC in 1999.

Cutler, who announced his departure from the SEC in mid-April, will begin work with the firm this autumn as co-chair of its securities department. He will be based in Washington, DC.