CHINESE OFFICIAL MADE JOB PLEA TO JPMORGAN’S CHIEF  | In yet another potential setback for JPMorgan Chase, a confidential email shows a top Chinese insurance regulator directly asked Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chairman and chief executive, for a “favor†to hire a young job applicant, a family friend of the regulator. Interviews, and the previously unreported email, show that Mr. Dimon met the applicant at a meeting in 2012, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Ben Protess report in DealBook. The meeting came as JPMorgan was seeking lucrative work from Chinese insurance companies.
While JPMorgan says that Mr. Dimon did not have anything to do with hiring the young interpreter, the “episode underscores the dual forces driving JPMorgan and other Wall Street banks to hire the family and friends of China’s ruling elite,†Ms. Silver-Greenberg and Mr. Protess write.
They add: “Until now, it was unclear whether any well-connected job applicants ever met JPMorgan executives in New York. Earlier documents that JPMorgan produced to federal authorities focused on hiring practices in Hong Kong and mainland China.
“But the latest ones show how the hires also touched the New York headquarters, where the bank awarded at least two internships to well-connected applicants.â€
CHASING SAC’S ‘BIG GUY’  | Mathew Martoma, the former portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors, may have been convicted on charges of insider trading last Thursday, but Steven A. Cohen, the founder of SAC, remains as hard to catch as a shadow. While Mr. Martoma now faces up to 10 years in prison, away from his wife and three young children, Mr. Cohen is still living in his 35,000-square-foot Greenwich, Conn. mansion, replete with a large art collection, and remains as elusive as ever, Matthew Goldstein and Alexandra Stevenson write in DealBook.
It is unlikely that Mr. Martoma will be willing to discuss what occurred between him and Mr. Cohen during the phone call that preceded the trades that were at the center of Mr. Martoma’s trial, as Peter J. Henning notes in the White Collar Watch column. And if Mr. Martoma does try to cooperate with the government, it is unlikely he will be taken as a credible witness, given his expulsion from Harvard Law School and the various lies that followed.
Law enforcement has once again failed to get any closer to Mr. Cohen in the nearly decade-long pursuit, but the trial of Mr. Martoma nevertheless provided a glimpse into the workings of SAC and the reverence its employees held its founder. As Chandler Bocklage, Mr. Cohen’s right-hand man, testified: “I personally think that Steve is the greatest trader of all time.â€
ALIBABA SEEKS CONTROL OF AUTONAVI  | Alibaba, the Chinese Internet giant, offered on Monday to buy the 72 percent of AutoNavi Holdings that it does not already own, in an all-cash bid that values the U.S.-listed mapping software company at about $1.58 billion. The unsolicited takeover bid is one of Alibaba’s biggest-ever acquisition attempts.
APPLE GAINS ALLY IN FIGHT AGAINST ICAHN  | Carl C. Icahn may hold the power to move a company’s stock in just 140 characters, but other shareholders are wielding their own influence. Institutional Shareholder Services, the prominent proxy advisory firm, released a note on Sunday telling clients it should vote against Mr. Icahn’s plan for Apple to buy back $50 billion of its own stock, Michael J. de la Merced writes in DealBook. In the note, I.S.S. wrote that Apple has not spent money unnecessarily acquiring companies and that much of its cash is held overseas, meaning Apple would either incur a large tax bill or need to borrow debt to bring it back.
In addition, Scott M. Stringer, New York City’s comptroller, plans to urge other investors on Monday to vote against Mr. Icahn’s proposal, arguing that the plan puts handcuffs on the iPhone maker’s management. Mr. Stringer oversees five pension funds that together own $1.3 billion worth of Apple shares.
ON THE AGENDA  | The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Technology Advisory Committee holds a public meeting at 10 a.m. to discuss swaps trading. Glenn Youngkin, the chief operating officer of the Carlyle Group, is on CNBC at 8 a.m. The Westminster Kennel Club 138th Annual Dog Show is on CNBC at 8 p.m. Curling, a favorite of Wall Street traders, begins today â€" the U.S. men’s team debuts against the colorful Norwegian team at 10 a.m. The women’s competition also begins.
THE STEALTH I.P.O.  | GoPro did it on Friday. Twitter did it last year. And they are far from alone â€" a number of technology companies have filed confidential initial public offerings with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the 2012 JOBS Act. Under the provision, companies can file offerings without disclosing significant information about their finances to the public, David Gelles and Michael J. de la Merced report in DealBook.
The tactic allows companies to keep sensitive information private, as well as give companies the ability to test the waters before they go public. But there is a growing sense among some securities experts that the process is changing the I.P.O. process in unintended ways. The law, they argue, was meant to encourage small companies to go public rather than sell themselves, not to support powerhouses like Twitter.
CUOMO THROWS A BONE TO NEW YORK BANKS Â |Â Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is pushing for New York State to change how it taxes the banking industry, hoping to discourage financial services companies from moving to other states and attract out-of-state companies to New York. He says his plan, which would drop the corporate income tax rate to its lowest level since the 1960, would create jobs. But others, including liberals, are not so sure.
SPOTLIGHT ON MICROSOFT’S NEW CHAIRMAN  | Fortune has a revealing profile on John W. Thompson, Microsoft’s new chairman. And Mr. Thompson gave his own perspective on life to The New York Times in The Boss column in 2012.
FLAPPY BIRD PULLED AFTER IT ‘RUINS’ CREATOR’S LIFE, TOO  | Flappy Bird, the impossible mobile game that reached the top of the most downloaded app charts for Apple and Android mobile devices, was apparently too much even for its creator Dong Nguyen, an independent developer in Vietnam. On Saturday, Mr. Nguyen announced on Twitter that he intended to pull the game from the mobile app stores, which he did on Sunday. “I can call ‘Flappy Bird’ is a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it,†Mr. Dong tweeted on Saturday.
Deutsche Telekom to Buy Rest of Its Czech Unit  | The German telecommunications giant will pay $1.1 billion for the remaining stake in T-Mobile Czech Republic as it turns its attention to Central and Eastern Europe as a potential growth area.
DealBook »
Nestlé Looking Into Reducing Stake in L’Oréal  | Nestlé is considering ways to reduce its $30 billion stake in L’Oréal, Bloomberg News writes, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Sprint Rethinks T-Mobile Acquisition After Public Antitrust Opposition  | Sprint is reconsidering whether acquiring T-Mobile, its smaller competitor, makes sense after antitrust officials expressed strong opposition to a deal, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Forbes Nears Sale  | Forbes Media, which publishes Forbes magazine, is said to have attracted interest from China’s Fosun International and Singapore’s Spice Global Investments, Bloomberg News writes, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. Final bids for the company are due on Monday.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Charter to Nominate Directors to Time Warner Board  | Charter Communications is expected to nominate 13 new directors to Time Warner Cable’s board as part of the takeover battle between the two companies, The Financial Times reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Barclays to Report 2013 Pretax Profit of $8.5 Billion  | The British lender said Monday that it would report 2013 adjusted profit before tax of 5.2 billion pounds, or about $8.5 billion, below analysts’ expectations. Barclays is set to report its year-end results on Tuesday.
DealBook » | DealBook: Barclays and Regulators Look at Possible Theft of Customer Data
DealBook »
DealBook »
Comptroller Considers Paring Back Bank Examiners  | The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is rethinking its approach to examiners of Wall Street firms, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Bank of Montreal Names New Chief of M.&A. Group  | The Bank of Montreal announced it had appointed Lyle Wilpon, a former chief of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s middle market mergers and acquisitions group, as the new chief of its United States M.&.A. business, Bloomberg News writes.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Barclays to Cap Banker Bonuses  | Barclays is said to be limiting the cash portion of bonuses for its investment bankers to 140,000 pounds, or $229,400, a 24 percent decrease from a year earlier, Bloomberg News reports.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
K.K.R. Buys Eyewear Retailer National Vision  | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company has purchased National Vision, a discount eyewear retailer, from Berkshire Partners for more than $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Vintage Capital Offers $2.3 Billion for Aaron’s Chain  | The private equity firm Vintage Capital has offered to buy Aaron’s, an electronics and furniture rental chain, for $2.3 billion, its fourth attempt in three years, Reuters reports. Vintage Capital is an Aaron’s shareholder.
REUTERS
Women’s Retailer Bebe Exploring Sale  | Bebe Stores, a women’s retailer, is reaching out to private equity firms regarding a potential sale, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
DealBook »
Soros Collects $5.5 Billion on Quantum Endowment’s Success  | Quantum Endowment, George Soros’s hedge fund, had its second-best year in dollar terms last year, netting Mr. Soros $5.5 billion and returning Quantum to the top place among the most successful hedge funds ever, The Financial Times reports.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Former Goldman Sachs Partner Plans Hedge Fund  | Leland Lim, a former co-head of Goldman Sachs’s macro trading team in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Japan, is said to be considering starting a macro hedge fund based in Hong Kong, Bloomberg News reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Two U.S. Hedge Funds in Battle Over Argentina Debt  | The hedge funds Gramercy Funds Management and Elliott Management have taken opposing positions in handling Argentina’s debt since the country gave up on its debt payments in December 2001.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Loeb’s Suggestion Predates Sony’s Latest Plans  | The activist investor Daniel S. Loeb called for a breakup of Sony before the company announced last week that it would sell its personal computer business and spin off its television manufacturing unit, Bloomberg News reports. Sony’s announcement led to a surge in the company’s stock price.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
DealBook »
Biotech I.P.O.’s Raise Fear of a Bubble  | The year has started off with a bang for United States biotechnology initial public offerings, stirring up fears of a bubble, The Financial Times writes.
FINANCIAL TIMES
PubMatic Considers I.P.O. Â |Â PubMatic, a platform that automates buying and selling of digital advertising space, is working with banks on a potential initial public offering aimed at raising $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Manchester United’s Stock Falls  | The soccer club Manchester United is struggling, and so is its stock price, Quartz reports. The team’s stock price has fallen 11 percent since the start of the soccer season, though its share price is still 7 percent above its 2012 initial public offering price.
QUARTZ
DealBook »
Investments in Medical Devices Fall  | Venture capital investments in the medical devices sector reached its lowest point last year since 2005, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
EBay to Start Trading Bitcoin  | The British unit of eBay, the online auction site, will open a “virtual currency†category for listing Bitcoin and other virtual currencies starting on Monday, Mashable reports.
MASHABLE
Barclays and Regulators Look at Possible Theft of Customer Data  | The bank and British regulators are looking into the possible theft of personal data concerning at least 2,000 clients after a British newspaper report.
DealBook » | DealBook: Barclays to Report 2013 Pretax Profit of $8.5 Billion
New European Banking Regulator Takes Tough Stance on Banks  | Danièle Nouy, the chief of Europe’s Single Supervisory Mechanism, said in an interview that some lenders have no future and should be allowed to “disappear in an orderly fashion,†The Financial Times reports.
FINANCIAL TIMES
A New Effort in Albany to Put Lenders in Charge of Abandoned Properties  | New York’s attorney general is expected to outline legislation to force banks to take responsibility for houses that have been abandoned before banks have finished foreclosing on them, The New York Times writes.
NEW YORK TIMES
DealBook » |Â
Economy and Crime Spur New Puerto Rican Exodus  | Puerto Rico’s debt was downgraded to junk status last week by two of the three top ratings agencies. But creditors aren’t the only ones who are worried. Puerto Rico’s extended woes, including high unemployment and pervasive crime, are causing a troubling exodus of professionals and middle-class residents to places like Florida and Texas, The New York Times reports.
NEW YORK TIMES
Sounding the Tax Alarm, to Little Applause  | Whistle-blowers’ tips are pouring in to the I.R.S. But cash awards are not pouring out, Gretchen Morgenson writes in The New York Times.
NEW YORK TIMES
Italy Decides Against ‘Bad Bank’  | Italy has rejected a plan to set up a “bad bank,†which would have allowed the country to take troubled assets off of its balance sheet, The Financial Times writes. Some Italian banks, including UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, are continuing talks with distressed debt funds to clean up their own non-performing loan portfolios.
FINANCIAL TIMES
This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: February 10, 2014
An earlier version of this article misstated the value of AutoNavi based on Alibaba's all-cash bid. It is about $1.58 billion, not $1.8 billion.
