25
2003
Frank Quattrone walked out of federal court yesterday; but he's not a free man.
In addition to his still-ending federal court case, the former Credit Suisse First Boston banker faces a range of charges from a variety of different regulators.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is pursuing a criminal investigation against Quattrone looking at the brokerage accounts he established for prominent CEOs and other important Silicon Valley insiders.
Investigators from his office have made visits to Silicon Valley asking these "friends of Frank" to cooperate with their investigation by offering them immunity. It's unclear how many have accepted that deal.
A spokesman for Spitzer's office declined to comment.
The "friend of Frank" accounts also played a key role in a complaint against Quattrone being brought by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD).
In April, NASD accused Quattrone, once head of CSFB's booming tech-banking practice of creating a "conflict-ridden" bank-within-a-bank. The allocations of hot IPO stocks - a practice known as spinning - encouraged people to do business with him, the NASD said in its formal complaint.
A hearing on those charges should take place by the end of the year.
An NASD spokesman declined to comment citing the organization's confidentiality rules.