After spending years in the wilderness fighting obstruction of justice charges stemming from the investment banking excesses of the late 1990s, Silicon Valley investment banker Frank Quattrone is back. Yesterday, he launched Qatalyst Group, a boutique investment bank that will focus on technology M&A and advisory services.

As the head technology banker for Credit Suisse, and Morgan Stanley before that, Quattrone had a hand in practically every major Internet IPO during the 1990s, from Amazon to Netscape. He has one of the deepest Rolodexes the Valley. In the press release announcing his return, he squeezes a couple of supportive quotes out of Google CEO Eric Schmidt, venture capitalist Jim Breyer, and Facebook CFO Gideon Yu.

I suppose a general economic downturn is as good a time as any to start a boutique M&A investment bank. Perhaps he can hire some folks from Bear Stearns.