Frank Quattrone, the most prominent banker of the 1990s technology boom, yesterday said that he planned to re-enter business after a judge approved a settlement that would allow him to avoid a third trial for obstructing justice.

The judge backed a "deferred prosecution" agreement that Mr Quattrone reached with federal prosecutors, meaning that charges will be dropped if he does not break the law in the next year.

That would finally clear the way for Mr Quattrone to go back into the securities industry, where he was a leading figure in the technology flotations during the late 1990s.

Leaving court yesterday, Mr Quattrone (50), revealed that he had no detailed plans, but confirmed that he wanted to resume his business career.

Mr Quattrone, who formerly worked for Credit Suisse First Boston and once earned more than $100 million (€78 million) in a year, would be able to set up an advisory company or a venture capital business, industry observers said.

A highly regarded figure in Silicon Valley, Mr Quattrone has retained the support of many leading executives in the technology world, some of whom wrote to the judge who presided over his 2004 trial urging leniency.

In his 23-year banking career, Mr Quattrone calculates that he has helped companies raise more than $65 billion, leading more than 175 initial public offerings (IPOs), including Cisco and Netscape.

The outcome is a blow for the US attorney's office for the southern district of New York, which first accused Mr Quattrone of obstructing justice in April 2003.

The case sprang from the probe into how investment banks awarded clients shares in hot technology flotations.

The accusation against Mr Quattrone was based on an e-mail in December 2000 sent to colleagues in which the banker suggested that it was time to "clean up" their computer files.