Why CSFB?

from the pick-a-target-and-destroy-them dept

The fifth in the seven part Red Herring series on the dirty secrets of the IPO world asks why investigators have focused so much on CSFB rather than other investment banking firms. The answers they suggest include a lack of political clout posessed by CSFB, unlike more well known Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. They also think that by going after a single bank (and an "easier" target) the investigations are less likely to run into opposition. The article even compares Frank Quattrone to Michael Milken, though I think that's a bit of a stretch. The fact is that banks have been doing all sorts of shady things concerning IPOs for many years, and its no surprise that any particular bank did any of these things. It's just a question of who (if anyone) will be the fall guy.