Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Frank Quattrone, the former Credit Suisse Group investment banker whose criminal obstruction charges may be set aside by U.S. prosecutors, retains the support of technology industry leaders who could help revive his career.

Quattrone oversaw more initial public stock offerings during the Internet boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s than any other banker, enriching entrepreneurs and the venture capitalists who sponsored them. He earned $158 million in 1999 and 2000.

In 2004, about 500 people, including former Netscape Communications Corp. Chief Executive Officer James Barksdale and Cisco Systems Inc. Chairman John Morgridge, wrote to the presiding judge in his case urging leniency.

``He made a lot of people a lot of money, and they are grateful,'' said Samuel Hayes, professor emeritus of investment banking at Harvard Business School in Boston. ``That's certainly going to give him some friends that can help with the process of rehabilitation.''

Quattrone, 50, has reached a deferred-prosecution agreement with prosecutors that will lead to dismissal of obstruction-of- justice charges against him and allow him to work in the securities industry if he doesn't break the law for a specified time, a person with knowledge of the accord said.

The agreement will be submitted to a federal judge at a hearing tomorrow in New York, the person said.

Quattrone hasn't announced his future plans, which might range from starting his own boutique advisory firm or investment company to dedicating his life to philanthropy or enjoying a golf-filled retirement. A spokeswoman for Quattrone, Elizabeth Cholis, declined to comment on his plans.

Hung Jury

The former investment banker was first charged in March 2003 for allegedly urging fellow Credit Suisse bankers to destroy records after learning of a federal investigation into how the bank distributed shares of IPOs. After his trial ended in a hung jury, he was retried and convicted in May 2004 on two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of witness tampering.

In March, a U.S. appeals court reversed the conviction, citing flawed jury instructions, and the Securities and Exchange Commission overturned a lifetime ban from the securities business that was imposed by industry regulator NASD.

``Frank's reputation in Silicon Valley is as strong as ever,'' said Bill Burnham, a former analyst who worked under Quattrone at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank AG and now maintains a Web blog on software technology and investing.

``Most people in the venture capital community out here saw the government's prosecution against him as a gross miscarriage of justice,'' Burnham said.

Credibility Questioned

Quattrone may still have to overcome the taint of criminal charges. After his first trial ended in October 2003, with a hung jury voting 8-3 to convict, some jurors said they believed he lied on the witness stand.

His second trial ended with a conviction. That decision was reversed by a federal appeals court, which said U.S. District Judge Richard Owen gave ``erroneous'' legal instructions to jurors.

The appeals court said in its ruling that the government's evidence at trial was ``sufficient'' to support Quattrone's conviction on each count.

``He will never truly be able to wipe the slate clean,'' said Christopher Bebel, a former SEC lawyer now in private practice in Houston.

Quattrone's felony indictment has to be disclosed on the Central Registration Depository, Bebel said. The database is maintained by state and federal regulators to provide investors with information about the licensing of and complaints against brokers and securities traders.

`Damaged Goods'

Phillip Phan, a finance professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, said Quattrone is ``damaged goods'' and unlikely to repeat his earlier successes.

``He has been tried and got off on a technicality,'' Phan said. ``I know of no significant examples where someone has been able to re-enter the business in the same scale as he or she left it after being prosecuted in the public manner that Frank Quattrone has.''

The NASD in January 2004 barred Quattrone from the securities industry after he refused to cooperate in its investigation of whether he had encouraged fellow employees to destroy documents. The SEC said it overturned the ban because the NASD should have considered Quattrone's right to avoid self- incrimination in the obstruction case.

``There is a presumption of innocence, and he is entitled to that now,'' said Jacob Frenkel, a former SEC lawyer now with Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker P.A. in Rockville, Maryland. ``The real challenge will be whether all his contacts and relationships will treat him as they did before the allegations surfaced.''

`Straightforward, Honest'

Geoff Yang, a founding partner of Redpoint Ventures in Menlo Park, California, said he ``absolutely'' would work with Quattrone if the government dropped charges against him and he decided to step back into technology investing.

``I've always found Frank straightforward and honest in my dealings with him,'' Yang said.

Quattrone, the son of a garment presser, was raised in a poor neighborhood of south Philadelphia. He joined Morgan Stanley in 1979 and became head of technology investment banking in 1990. In 1996, he moved to Deutsche Bank AG and in July 1998 to Credit Suisse.

Two weeks later, more than 130 investment bankers, analysts and other staff followed him from Deutsche Bank to Credit Suisse.

The group was based in Palo Alto, California, near the Sand Hill Road addresses in neighboring Menlo Park where many of the largest venture-capital firms are based. Over the years, Quattrone's group handled IPOs for dozens of companies, including Amazon.com Inc., Cisco and Adobe Systems Inc.

`Man of Honor'

Quattrone earned $38 million in 1999 and $120 million in 2000, prosecutors said during the trials.

His top lieutenants at Credit Suisse, George Boutros and Bill Brady, now co-chairmen of the firm's technology group, attended portions of the trials in New York. Quattrone's Palo Alto office has remained vacant since he resigned in March 2003.

``I continue to believe he is a man of honor,'' Barksdale, the former Netscape CEO, wrote in one of the letters to the court in 2004 in advance of his sentencing. Other Silicon Valley executives who wrote letters urging leniency included Adobe Co- Chairman Charles Geschke and Intuit Inc. founder Scott Cook.

``He's a high-quality guy,'' said Dick Kramlich, general partner of New Enterprise Associates, a Menlo Park-based venture capital firm. ``He would be welcomed back, and he would be extremely effective.''

Golf Forays

Quattrone has bided his time playing golf and maintaining a 9.9 handicap, according to the U.S. Golf Association's GHIN Internet database. He played at least 20 times in June and July, including four rounds at Los Altos Golf and Country Club, one of four courses in Northern California where he's a member.

He is on the advisory board of Santa Clara University's Northern California Innocence Project, which represents poor California prisoners it believes have been wrongfully convicted. He also is on the board of directors of the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California.

``I actually wouldn't be surprised to see Frank focus even more of his efforts on the California Innocence Project rather than get back into finance full-time,'' Burnham, the author of the technology blog, said.

``If he does get back into the game, I think he's much more likely to take part as a principal investor rather than a banker.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Bradley Keoun in New York at bkeoun@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 21, 2006 00:04 EDT