Frank Quattrone, once and future Wall Street star has finanally beaten one of the more ill advised raps of the beefed-up, Spitzerized regulatory enforcement regime. Quattrone made his name during the dot com boom, but ran afoul of the Justice Department and spend the last three years trying to beat obstruction of justice charges (enouraging his staff to destroy documents, would be the precise act).

After two trials Quattrone was convicted in May 2004 and sentenced to 18 months, a verdict later overturned by an appeals court, which set the stage for yet a third trial and brings us up to date. Earlier this week, Quattrone's atttorneys reached a deal with prosecutors stipulating that if he keeps his nose clean for one year (and easy task, given the man-sized soup-strainer he sports) all charges will be dropped. Quattrone also, at one point, had a lifetime trading ban handed down, but that has since seen that overturned as well.

Quattrone, for his part, is treating the deal as vindication and, word is, he may be looking to celebrat his new-found freedom by starting his own firm.

The Daily Caveat predicts an explosive growth in the popularity of Quattrone-inspired un-inronic Burt Reynolds era-moustache fashion amongst Wall Streeters this fall.

It could happen...

-- MDT

Labels: Department of Justice