Mr Frank Quattrone, a former investment banking star who is under criminal investigation, resigned from Credit Suisse First Boston last night, saying a split from the firm would allow him to concentrate on defending himself.
Mr Quattrone, who faces obstruction charges for having told staff to "clean up" files during a December 2000 investigation, received no immediate compensation or severance package in connection with his exit, according to his spokesman.
Mr Quattrone's departure reflects the intense legal pressure surrounding him and New York-based CSFB, which became one of Wall Street's hottest stock underwriters in the late 1990s under Mr Quattrone's guidance.
Sources close to the matter said lawyers met in marathon sessions on Monday to hammer out the terms of Mr Quattrone's departure from CSFB, which appeared imminent after news surfaced that he declined to testify before securities regulators last week.
But efforts to craft a legal structure for Quattrone's exit, including details of his severance, were shelved until regulatory probes end, according a statement from Mr Quattrone's spokesman, Mr Bob Chlopak.