Quattrone was charged last April with obstructing justice
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A United States judge has declared a mistrial in the obstruction of justice trial of Frank Quattrone, a former Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) banker.
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US District Judge Richard Owen said jurors had failed to agree on any of the charges against the former financial wizard.
The “consensus is that we will not be able to reach a unanimous vote on any of the three counts [two counts of obstruction and one count of witness tampering],” the jurors said in a note given to Owen, according to court transcripts.
The mistrial prepares the way for a possible second trial and Judge Owen said he would hear a status report on the government’s plans for proceeding at a November 5 hearing.
Clean up
Quattrone was accused of telling his staff to destroy documents amid a regulatory investigation into the handling of 1990s stock offerings.
The case hinges on a single email, drafted by someone else, which Quattrone forwarded to his entire department advising staff to “clean up those files”.
The message was sent just days after Quattrone had been told that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) was investigating the bank’s IPO practices.
The bank was accused of inflating commissions from about 100 hedge funds in exchange for taking charge of new stock offerings.
Even though the bank never admitted any wrongdoing, it paid $100 million in January 2002 to settle the case.
Earlier this year CSFB paid a $200 million fine to the SEC following charges that it issued biased stock research.
Quattrone resigned under pressure from CSFB, a division of the Credit Suisse Group.
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Ex-Credit Suisse banker in court
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Quattrone is accused of telling his staff to destroy documents amid a regulatory investigation into the handling of 1990s stock offerings. The case is one of the biggest criminal trials in recent history involving a former Wall Street powerbroker. Quattrone’s case also comes amid a wave of regulatory and courtroom attacks on the excesses of…
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While admitting no wrongdoing, the ten companies agreed to pay a total of $1.4 billion (SFr1.9 billion) and change their business practices. Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) was fined $200 million, while UBS Warburg (UBSW) will pay $80 million. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said CSFB had also settled charges of securities fraud…
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US federal prosecutors arrested Frank Quattrone on Wednesday following an investigation into claims he engaged in corrupt behaviour designed to win the bank business. Quattrone resigned from CSFB last month amid mounting legal pressure. The obstruction of justice charge stems from an email Quattrone is alleged to have sent to staff during a December 2000…
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He resigned from Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) earlier this week amid mounting legal pressure surrounding him and the firm. On Thursday, the NASD charged Quattrone with tipping off clients about forthcoming initial public offerings in order to win business. The former head of CSFB’s technology unit was also accused of overseeing a flawed organisation…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.