To Indict, or Not to Indict

Some banks may have become too big to prosecute, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said last week in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. That comment â€" an acknowledgment, for the first time, that Mr. Holder has not pursued big bank prosecutions out of fear of possibly harming the financial system â€" raises a variety of questions, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in the DealBook column. “Does this mean that our banks are still too big to fail Should we prosecute corporations Should the size of an institution or its systemic importance influence the decision of prosecutors What’s the right policy”

“At a minimum, Mr. Holder’s comments are embarrassingly at odds with the Obama administration’s view that too-big-to-fail was fixed by the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law.” But the remarks also point to a deeper question f whether indicting corporations is effective. “The fact that prosecutors have not claimed a big-time scalp in the financial crisis obscures the issue of prosecuting companies themselves and the complications such prosecutions raise.”

The case of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen provides a lesson. “The charges against the firm put it out of business, and 28,000 employees â€" most of whom had nothing to do with the Enron case or the shredding of documents â€" lost their jobs. Making matters worse, the conviction of Arthur Andersen was overruled on appeal by the Supreme Court. Prosecutors decided not to pursue the case. Ever since then, the Justice Department has been much more cognizant of the collateral damage of bringing a criminal case against a company â€" as opposed to prosecuting the individual employees responsible for the crime.”

NOMINEE FOR S.E.C. CHIEF SET TO WOO CRITICS  | ! Mary Jo White, President Obama’s pick to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, is going before the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing starting at 10 a.m., with plans to deflect concerns about her ability to regulate the banks she recently defended. In written testimony released on Monday, Ms. White outlined her experience going after white-collar crime as a federal prosecutor in New York, pledging to continue rooting out financial fraud as head of the S.E.C., DealBook’s Ben Protess reports. “If confirmed, it will be a high priority throughout my tenure tofurther strengthen the enforcement function of the S.E.C. â€" it must be fair, but it also must be bold and unrelenting,” Ms. White said in the testimony. “Strong enforcement is necessary for investor confidence and is essential to the integrity of our financial markets.”

Ms. White’s testimony “provided the first window into her priorities as an S.E.C. chief,” Mr. Protess says. “She placed a premium on unearthing financial fraud, while also spelling out an agenda that included keeping a closer eye on high-speed trading firms and putting the finishing touches on new rules for Wall Street.” Also at the hearing will be Richard Cordray, who was reappointed as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. DealBook will be live-blogging the confirmation hearing.

ICAHN GOES MUM; DELL FOUNDER SPEAKS OUT  |  Carl C. ! Icahn, wh! o last week seemed poised to join the shareholder opposition to the proposed $24.4 billion buyout of Dell, has agreed to review the computer maker’s confidential data. The move keeps the activist investor silent, for now, as he examines Dell’s books as a participant in the “go shop” process being run by Dell’s board, DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced reports. In a statement on Monday, Mr. Icahn’s firm said it “looks forward to commencing its review of Dell’s confidential information.”

Meanwhile, the bidding group â€" Michael S. Dell and the investment firm Silver Lake â€" has hired Citigroup to provide advice, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cites unidentified people familiar with the matter. The move would prevent another possible bidder from using Citigroup€™s services. With Citigroup in the bidder’s camp, most of the big Wall Street banks would now be working on the deal in some capacity.

Mr. Dell gave a rare interview about the deal. He told the radio program Marketplace that the proposed transaction “means the company will be even more founder-led than it was in its first few decades. I think this is very good for our customers. It gives our shareholders an opportunity to take advantage of some of the benefits of the things that we are doing as a company without taking on all the risks that I and Silver Lake will bear.”

ON THE AGENDA  |  Costco Wholesale reports earnings before the market opens, and Dole Food reports earnings on Tuesday evening. Mohamed El-Erian, chief exec! utive of ! Pimco, is on CNBC at 8:30 a.m. Robert Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, is on CNBC at 3:10 p.m.

S.E.C. ACCUSES ILLINOIS OF FRAUD  |  “For the second time in history, federal regulators have accused an American state of securities fraud, finding that Illinois misled investors about the condition of its public pension system from 2005 to 2009,” Mary Williams Walsh reports in The New York Times. “In announcing a settlement with the state on Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Illinois of claiming that it had been properly funding public workers’ retirement plans when it had not. In particular, it cited the period from 2005 to 2009, when Illinois also issued $2.2 billion in bonds.” Still, “the S.E.C. did not measure any loss in dollars, and it id not impose fines or penalties in Monday’s settlement.”

Mergers & Acquisitions »

Hostess Announces Buyers for Snack Business  |  Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos & Company are buying the snack cake business of Hostess Brands, including Twinkies, Reuters reports. No other bids were received, Hostess said. REUTERS

British Authorities Open Inquiry Into Autonomy Deal  |  The Associated Press reports: “British authorities have opened an investigation into Hewlett-Packard’s claims that it was duped wh! en it bou! ght the business software maker Autonomy, according to regulatory documents filed Monday.” ASSOCIATED PRESS

Salesforce Prepares to Go Shopping  |  Salesforce.com said it would offer $1 billion of convertible notes to help pay for activities including possible acquisitions. NEWS RELEASE

Zynga Gets a Lift From Deal Speculation  |  Zynga’s shares rose on Monday after an analyst predicted that Yahoo might consider buying the company, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS

BlackBerry Shares Rise on Takeover Speculation  |  Shares of BlackBerry rose on Monday after the chief executive of the Lenovo Group told a French newspaper that an acquisition of BlackBerry might be considered in the future, according to Reuters. REUTERS

LinkedIn Said to Agree to Buy News Reading App  |  LinkedIn is buying the maker of Pulse, an app for reading content on mobile devices, for “between $50 million and $100 million,” AllThingsD reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the negotiations. ALLTHINGSD

INVESTMENT BANKING »

Barclays Proposes Overhaul of Benchmark Rates  |  Barclays said in a letter in response to the International Organization of Securities Commissions that benchmarks like the London interbank offered rates, or Libor, should be tied to actual transactions rather than estimates, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS

Former Citigroup Trader Reshapes a Town in Vermont  |  Andrew J. Hall, who turned heads after earning a $100 million pay pacage at Citigroup, has purchased more than 2,400 acres in Reading, Vt., “has torn down at least half a dozen homes” and “opened an appointment-only art museum there,” Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS

Lloyds Bank Sells Stake in Wealth Manager  |  The Lloyds Banking Group made about $596 million on a sale of part of its stake in St. James’s Place, a wealth management firm, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS

The Billion-Dollar Banker  |  André Esteves, chief executive of the investment bank BTG Pactual, has! forged a! formidable reputation for value enhancement. But there are limits, Christopher Swann and Jeffrey Goldfarb of Reuters Breakingviews write. REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS

A Barclays Banker Bets on a ‘Fat Cat’  |  This week, Rich Ricci, the head of the investment banking unit of Barclays, is entering several horses in the Cheltenham Festival, including “Fat Cat in the Hat.” DealBook »

PRIVATE EQUITY »

Owner of Yankee Candle Said to Pursue a Sale  |  Yankee Candle, the candle makerthat was acquired by Madison Dearborn Partners in 2006, is working with Barclays and Bank of America “on a sale process that is still in the early stages,” Reuters reports, citing three unidentified people familiar with the matter. REUTERS

Carlyle and K.K.R. Said to Be Bidding for Thai Life Insurance Stake  | 
REUTERS

In Africa, Private Equity Investors See Opportunity  | 
FINANCIAL TIMES

HEDGE FUNDS »

Hedge Fund Donates $30 Million to Imperial College  |  Brevan Howard, the secretive London-based hedge fund, agreed on Monday to donate $30 million to Imperial College to set up a finance research center in its name. DealBook »

A Bright Spot for the Man Group  |  Financial Risk Management, a unit of the beleaguered hedge fund firm Man Group, “may see the best return from its multistrategy funds of funds since 2009, said its chief investment officer,” according to Bloomberg News. BLOOMBERG NEWS

I.P.O./OFFERINGS »

Constellium, Backed by Apollo, Said to Prepare for I.P.O.  |  Constellium, a maker of aluminum products for aerospace and transportation based in Paris, “is starting to interview banks for an initial public offering,” according to Reuters, which cites two unidentified people familiar with the situation. The company is majority owned by Apollo Global Management. REUTERS

! U.S. Sold! $489.9 Million of General Motors Stock in February  | 
DETROIT FREE PRESS

VENTURE CAPITAL »

Enterprise Data Start-Up Raises $60 Million  |  Domo, which offers a cloud-based service in the “business intelligence” category, raised a $60 million financing round from investors including GGV Capital and Greylock Partners, AllThingsD reports. ALLTHINGSD

LEGAL/REGULATORY »

Responding to Financial Crisis, Britain Overhauls Its Regulators  |  Britain, unlike other economic powers, is responding to the financial crisis by creating two new agencies, one to oversee institutions and another to watch for market abuses. DealBook »

Oppenheimer Settles S.E.C.’s Accusations It Misled Investors  |  The S.E.C. said that Oppenheimer had inflated the value of the largest investment in its fund. The false valuation raised the fund’s internal rate of return. DealBook »

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Former Massachusetts Senator to Join Nixon Peabody  |  Scott Brown, the former Massachusetts senator who lost his seat to Elizabeth Warren last year, will work at Nixon Peabody’s Boston headquarters and focus on the financial services industry and commercial real estate matters. DealBook »

Schapiro Is Nominated to G.E. Board  |  General Electric announced on Monday that it had nominated Mary L. Schapiro to serve as one of its directors. She will stand for election at the company’s annual meeting on April 24. DealBook »

Mexcan Leaders Propose Overhaul of Telecom Rules  |  The New York Times reports: “President Enrique Peña Nieto and leaders of Mexico’s three main political parties on Monday presented a sweeping overhaul of the laws regulating telecommunications, the most serious effort yet to rein in the country’s dominant telephone and television companies.” NEW YORK TIMES

Prosecutors Push for Jail Time for Tipster in Insider Trading Case  | 
BLOOMBERG NEWS

Amid Austerity in Italy, Businesses on the Brink  | 
NEW YORK TIMES

The Implications of the Swiss Vote on Pay  | 
QUARTZ