Quattrone and his former firm Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB)
promoted and arranged Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) for many
technology companies in the late 1990s.
According to regulators, Quattrone personally earned $200
million from mid-1998 to late-2001. But in mid-2000, investigations
began on allegations that CSFB had improperly shared IPO profits
with clients.
CSFB is not the only Wall Street firm to face such
investigations, but no firm has actually been charged with a crime.
CSFB reached a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission in early 2002, without admitting any wrongdoing, and
agreed to pay the sum of $100 million.
The only criminal charges to come out of the investigations were
those against Quattrone. He was accused of sending an e-mail on 5th
December 2000 urging colleagues to "clean up those files" – after
learning that the files were to be investigated by regulators.
But the case appeared to depend on a two-line e-mail – and that
was not enough to convince all the jurors. After six days of
deliberations the jury said it was unable to reach a unanimous
verdict.
Prosecutors could attempt a retrial, but have not yet confirmed
whether they want one. A hearing is scheduled for next week to
resolve the issue.
