“Federal regulators on Tuesday approved a simple rule that could do more to rein in Wall Street than most other parts of a sweeping overhaul that has descended on the biggest banks since the financial crisis,†Peter Eavis writes in DealBook. The rule increases to 5 percent, from roughly 3 percent, a threshold called the leverage ratio, which measures the amount of capital that a bank holds against its assets. The rule is scheduled to take effect at the start of 2018.
As regulators approved the rule, they also proposed an adjustment that would probably make the rule tougher for firms with large Wall Street businesses. The adjustment increases the assets that get counted in the leverage ratio calculation, most likely requiring banks to hold more capital than they expected. On Tuesday, regulators estimated that the eight biggest banks in the United States might have to find a combined $68 billion in capital to put their operations on firmer financial footing. In response, Wall Street titans are expected to cut back on some of their riskiest activities, including trading in credit-default swaps.
SIX DEGREES OF STEVEN COHEN  | “The degree of separation between Steven A. Cohen and Bart M. Schwartz, the consultant selected last week to monitor the operations of the former SAC Capital Advisors, is closer than previously known,†Matthew Goldstein writes in DealBook. The son of an executive at Mr. Schwartz’s consulting firm is a portfolio manager at Point72 Asset Management, which will now manage much of Mr. Cohen’s personal fortune.
Mr. Schwartz said the potential conflict was disclosed to Mr. Cohen and his legal team as well as the government and that all sides were comfortable with it. The appointment of Mr. Schwartz, a former federal prosecutor who has a long history of serving as an independent monitor in government investigations, is part of the deal â€" still subject to a judge’s approval â€" that SAC struck with federal prosecutors in November to plead guilty to insider trading charges.
On Thursday, Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is scheduled to decide whether to accept SAC’s plea and its deal with prosecutors to pay a $1.2 billion penalty. The judge is also expected to decide whether to allow Mr. Schwartz to serve as the outside consultant, whose job is to report periodically to prosecutors about the adequacy of Point72’s procedures for detecting improper trading. Judge Swain issued an order on Tuesday directing prosecutors and Mr. Cohen’s lawyers to be prepared at the hearing to discuss Mr. Schwartz’s qualifications.
ARE INVESTORS SOURING ON I.P.O.’S?  | This week is expected to be the busiest for initial public offerings in more than seven years, but there are signs that investors are beginning to sour on the fresh arrivals, William Alden writes in DealBook. With 16 companies expected to price their share offerings, the week could provide a barometer for just how many new stocks investors will receive enthusiastically.
Investor appetite already seems to be waning. An exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of recent offerings is down 2 percent so far this year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has ended roughly flat. Just a month ago, the fund, created by Renaissance Capital, was up 8 percent for the year. Still, some companies are betting that a long-term market rally will resume.
One big company making its debut, the hotel chain La Quinta Holdings, took a cautious approach in its pricing on Tuesday evening. La Quinta, which is being taken public by the Blackstone Group, a giant private equity firm, priced its shares at $17 each, below an expected range of $18 to $21. At that level, La Quinta raised $650 million, achieving a valuation of roughly $2 billion going into its trading debut. The conservative pricing may help La Quinta achieve a more impressive performance in its first day of trading.
ON THE AGENDA  | The Mortgage Bankers’ Association purchase applications index is out at 7 a.m. The Federal Reserve publishes the minutes of its March meeting at 2 p.m. Charles L. Evans, president of the Chicago Fed, gives a speech at 3:30 p.m. in Washington. The House Committee on Financial Services holds a hearing at 10 a.m. entitled “Legislative Proposals to Enhance Capital Formation for Small and Emerging Growth Companies.†Kevyn Orr, Detroit’s emergency manager, is on Bloomberg TV at 2 p.m. Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, is on Fox News Channel at 9 p.m.
COMCAST MAKES CASE FOR MERGER  | “Comcast presented regulators on Tuesday with 650 pages of reasons to approve its takeover of Time Warner Cable, saying a merger of the two largest cable television companies would spur rather than inhibit competition by encouraging rivals to improve their cable and high-speed Internet service,†Edward Wyatt and Eric Lipton write in The New York Times. But Comcast is not relying on financial filings alone to try to win what is expected to be a bruising battle with the deal’s opponents.
The company has already been busy briefing lawmakers and their staffs, particularly from the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on Wednesday to examine the proposed merger’s antitrust implications. The company has also added to its small army of lobbyists two former legislative aides who advised the Judiciary Committee on antitrust matters. The Comcast executive who oversees the company’s government affairs operations, David L. Cohen, made his case in favor of the $45 billion deal on a conference call with reporters on Tuesday.
Opponents, too, have been gearing up for a fight. A group of more than 50 consumer advocacy organizations sent a letter on Tuesday to Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asking them to block the merger because of its “complete lack of any tangible benefits.â€
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Alibaba’s Founders Make a Bet on Video  | An investment firm controlled by the founders of the Alibaba Group, the Chinese Internet giant, has agreed to acquire a 20 percent stake in the Wasu Media Holding Company, a Chinese Internet TV company, for more than $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
McClatchy to Sell Anchorage Daily News to Alaska Dispatch Publishing  | Alaska Dispatch, a six-year-old website, is buying the 68-year-old Anchorage Daily News from the McClatchy Company for $34 million, the two companies announced Tuesday afternoon. NEW YORK TIMES
South Africa’s Woolworths to Acquire Australia’s David Jones  | The South African retailer Woolworths Holdings is set to buy Australia’s second-largest department store, David Jones, for $2 billion, Reuters writes. REUTERS
Comcast Gives a Nod to a Future Apple Set-Top Box  | In papers related to its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, Comcast gives a nod to a future Apple set-top box, even though Apple has yet to introduce one, the Bits blog writes. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
Goldman Sachs May Close Its Dark Pool  | Goldman Sachs is said to be considering shutting down its so-called dark pool trading operation, known as Sigma X, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. The bank’s executives are weighing whether the revenue that the firm generates from operating Sigma X is worth the risk amid growing scrutiny of dark pools. WALL STREET JOURNAL
More Progress Needed to Get Women in Senior Positions on Wall Street  | Critics say that Wall Street will not see a woman lead a major investment bank anytime soon, MarketWatch reports. Only a small number of the executive roles at the major banks are currently held by women, and the financial industry, which is typically dominated by men, will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, one critic says. MARKETWATCH
Bank of America and Allstate End Mortgage Securities Suit  | Bank of America’s Countrywide unit and the insurer Allstate have settled a 2010 lawsuit over $700 million in devalued mortgage-backed securities, Bloomberg News reports. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. BLOOMBERG NEWS
London Banks See Exit From European Union as Threat to Business  | If Britain votes to leave the European Union, some bankers fear that parts of London’s banking business could drift to other European cities, Bloomberg News writes. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Sycamore Partners Returns to Fund-Raising  | The private equity firm Sycamore Partners has raised nearly $2 billion for the follow-up fund to its 2012 vintage fund, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Why the S.E.C. Is Investigating Private Equity  | “I’ve got reason to think that regulators have found some incidents of hidden fees and, if so, it could destroy all of that trust that private equity firms appear to have built with their limited partners,†Dan Primack writes in Fortune’s Term Sheet. FORTUNE
Powerful, Disruptive Shareholders  | Activist investors “typically not only tolerate a fight â€" they relish it. While that may provide amusement to them, it can leave a company distracted, vulnerable to a takeover and subject to losing its people to more stable employers,†Joseph Perella and Peter Weinberg write in a New York Times Op-Ed column. NEW YORK TIMES
Sotheby’s Steps Up Defense Against Loeb  | Sotheby’s, the auction house that has been targeted by activist investors including Daniel S. Loeb, published a 53-page slide deck on Tuesday refuting Mr. Loeb’s claims of poor management, The Financial Times writes. FINANCIAL TIMES
Imax Selling 20 Percent of Its Chinese Business  | After making an $80 million investment, China Media Capital and FountainVest Partners will help the unit, China Imax, complete a public offering, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Nigeria’s Seplat Raises $500 Million in I.P.O.  | The oil company became the first Nigerian firm to have a dual listing in London and Nigeria, with a market capitalization based on its pricing of 1.14 billion pounds, or about $1.9 billion. DealBook »
Why ‘the Next Silicon Valley’ Is Always Silicon Valley  | Cities across the country, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, have all “professed their silicon dreams,†Derek Thompson of The Atlantic writes. But, he adds, “if the best advertisement for talent is talent, then all things equal, the area most likely to be the next generation’s Silicon Valley is … well, probably Silicon Valley.†THE ATLANTIC
Andreessen Warns on High-Valuation Offers  | Marc Andreessen and his venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz are advising their portfolio companies to be skeptical of high-valuation offers from growth-stage investors from outside Silicon Valley, The Wall Street Journal reports. The issue, he said, involves term sheets, the framework for deals between investors and entrepreneurs. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Atlassian Raises $150 Million  | Atlassian, a developer of online collaboration tools for businesses, said on Tuesday that it had raised $150 million in a secondary offering led by T. Rowe Price, ReCode reports. RECODE
Official’s Remarks Attacking S.E.C.’s Timidness Causes Stir  | James Kidney, a trial lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission, criticized colleagues for being “tentative and fearful.†His frank remarks, made during his retirement speech, are drawing attention. DealBook »
Deutsche Bank Economist to Join China’s Central Bank  | Jun Ma, a 13-year veteran of the German bank, is known as one of the most bullish of the economists who follow China. DealBook »
Obama Signs Measures to Help Close Gender Gap in Pay  | President Obama signed two executive measures on Tuesday intended to help close longstanding pay disparities between men and women as Democrats seek to capitalize on their gender-gap advantage at the ballot box in a midterm election year, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
After Slide, Rich Nations Now Lifting Growth, I.M.F. Reports  | The International Monetary Fund expects about 3 percent growth in the United States in 2014 after 1.9 percent growth in 2013, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
U.S. Fines General Motors $28,000 for Not Cooperating With Ignition Flaw Inquiry  | The automaker missed an April 3 deadline to answer questions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about why it did not recall cars until years after learning of safety problems, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
