Steven A. Cohen is putting pressure on his traders to try to keep his once-powerful hedge fund together as it awaits a judge’s decision next week on its guilty plea to securities fraud charges, Matthew Goldstein writes in DealBook. Mr. Cohen is aiming to curtail a slow but steady departure of top portfolio managers by pressing those who remain to sign two-year contracts that would bind them to him until the end of 2016.
“The push by Mr. Cohen to lock up as many top traders as possible is an indication that the future success of what will become a firm managing only the 57-year-old investor’s considerable fortune is still uncertain,†Mr. Goldstein writes. Some employees are not convinced that the firm will remain a powerhouse stock trading shop once it becomes a family office, managing mostly $9 billion of Mr. Cohen’s money.
The effort to get as many as half of the firm’s roughly 90 portfolio managers to sign two-year contracts is causing some consternation at the firm. Some view the two-year contracts as an aggressive move by Mr. Cohen to limit the options of his top traders. But others say that SAC is simply doing what is necessary to keep its talent in place and ensure that those who leave early honor the terms of their contracts.
YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION  | “If the last three decades revolutionized the information and telecommunications industries, the next three may upend the basic tenets of finance: currency, credit and banks, as well as payment and transmission systems,†Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in DealBook’s spring special section on the future of money. In recent years, there have already been hints of an impending overhaul, including the emergence of Bitcoin, the adoption of peer-to-peer lending businesses and the introduction of the payment system Square.
Mr. Sorkin writes: “What happens when you no longer need a bank to provide capital? Instead, investors and those looking for credit â€" individuals and businesses â€" meet online. Is that a real possibility? What are the regulatory ramifications? Are we more interconnected or less? Where will people store money in the future? And will it be safe?â€
The financial industry â€" and Silicon Valley investors â€" may be fixated on virtual currencies and credit card technologies, but don’t declare cash dead quite yet, Michael Corkery writes in DealBook. There are now more greenbacks coursing through the American financial system than at any time in recent history. Since January 2006, the amount of United States currency in circulation rose about 64 percent, to $1.2 trillion.
But divining the future of money from the explosive growth of cash is not so easy. Consumers are not necessarily spending those bills. And in fact, as the total amount of dollars in the system increases, signs of cash transactions are declining. Though the practice is not as widespread in the United States because of costs, people across the globe are now using smartphones to make payments for transit, food, clothing or even to pay bills, Chad Bray and Reuben Kyama write in DealBook. Still, while many are entranced by the idea of a cashless society, some institutions, including the Salvation Army, are trying to figure out how to adapt, Gregory Schmidt writes in DealBook.
KEEPING IT SAFE  | Paying with plastic has been pretty standard everywhere since the 1970s. But after security breaches at Target late last year led to the loss of personal data from as many as 110 million customers, the financial industry is “racing to adopt technologies that will alter that decades-old ritual,†Michael J. de la Merced writes in DealBook.
Efforts to bolster card security were underway well before hackers broke into the systems of Target, Neiman Marcus, Michaels and other store chains, but these breaches have injected new urgency into adopting newer technology. For their part, credit card companies and issuers say their are working to make the system as consumers know it obsolete through smart chips and advanced computer programming.
Mr. de la Merced writes: “Ultimately, while physical cards will remain in use for some time, many in the industry predict plastic as the primary way to pay will give way to digital wallets embedded in smartphones, tablets and other devices.â€
Bitcoin backers, too, are being spurred to act in the face of security issues and concerns about new regulations, Nicole Perlroth writes in DealBook. The Bitcoin system itself is protected by strong cryptography, but thieves have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of coins by exploiting weaknesses in private key storage systems and hundreds of millions more from exchanges.
“Consumer confidence in and adoption of new technologies â€" especially regarding money â€" is highly dependent on security, or at least the public’s perception of security. To that end, Bitcoin enthusiasts, cryptographers and security researchers are putting renewed focus on security and self-policing,†Ms. Perlroth writes.
ON THE AGENDA  | The ADP private payroll report for March is out at 8:15 a.m. Gallup’s job creation index for March is out at 8:30 a.m. Factory orders for February are out at 10 a.m. Dennis P. Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed, gives a speech on the economic outlook at 12:30 p.m. in Miami. The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing at 10 a.m. entitled “Allegations of Discrimination and Retaliation within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.†The House Committee on Small Business holds a hearing at 1 p.m. entitled “Bitcoin: Examining the Benefits and Risks for Small Business.â€
GOLDMAN WEIGHS SALE OF MARKET-MAKING UNIT Â |Â Goldman Sachs is exploring a sale of its designated market-maker unit, which it is valuing at about $30 million, after paying $6.5 billion for it in 2000, Rachel Abrams writes in DealBook. Goldman acquired the unit as part of its acquisition of the trading firm Spear, Leeds & Kellogg. Once known as specialists, market makers, which facilitate trading by buying and selling shares of public companies, have largely been phased out by technology.
WHERE’S SATOSHI NAKAMOTO?  | Bitcoin was created by an anonymous computer programmer, or group of computer programmers, known only as “Satoshi Nakamoto.†People have been making educated guesses to try to unmask the real Satoshi since Bitcoin appeared in 2009. Can you spot him?
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Strong Start in Deal-Making  | Led by announced acquisitions like Comcast’s $45 billion bid for Time Warner Cable, the dollar volume of mergers worldwide rose 35 percent in the first three months of 2014 from the period a year earlier. It was the strongest start for deals since 2011. DEALBOOK
China’s Cofco to Buy Majority Stake in Noble Agriculture Unit  | Cofco, a huge state-owned foodstuffs conglomerate, has agreed to pay $1.5 billion for a 51 percent stake in Noble Agri as part of a push to meet China’s demands for food security. DealBook »
Apple in Talks to Buy Chip Designer  | Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corporation is in talks with Apple and other potential buyers of a stake in a smartphone display chip unit, Reuters writes, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation. REUTERS
Timberwolves Owner Plans to Buy Minneapolis Newspaper  | Glen Taylor, who owns the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team, has signed a letter of intent to buy The Minneapolis Star Tribune, the newspaper announced on Tuesday. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Charles Keating, Key Figure in the 1980s Savings and Loan Crisis, Dies at 90 Â |Â Charles H. Keating Jr., who went to prison and came to symbolize the $150 billion savings-and-loan crisis a generation ago after fleecing thousands of depositors with regulatory help from a group of United States senators known as the Keating Five, has died, The New York Times writes. He was 90. NEW YORK TIMES
Wells Fargo Names New C.F.O.  | Timothy J. Sloan, 53, is leaving the C.F.O. post to head Wells Fargo’s wholesale banking group, and John R. Shrewsberry, 48, currently head of Wells Fargo Securities, will become the new chief financial officer. DealBook »
Russia to Retaliate Over JPMorgan Action  | Russia has threatened to retaliate against United States diplomatic missions after JPMorgan Chase blocked a money transfer from a Russian embassy, The Financial Times reports. FINANCIAL TIMES
Energy Future Reorganization Plan Said to Almost Wipe Out Owners  | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, the firms that acquired Energy Future Holdings in the biggest leveraged buyout ever, would be left with as little as 1 percent of the equity in the company in a reorganization plan being discussed, Bloomberg News writes, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Alarm.com Owners Exploring Possible Stock Offering  | The private equity firm ABS Capital is considering a stock market debut for Alarm.com, a company that sells home security systems controlled by smartphone applications, The Financial Times writes, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. The firm is also weighing a sale of the company. FINANCIAL TIMES
Credit Card Maker CPI Weighs Sale  | The private equity firm Tricor Pacific Capital, the owner of CPI Card Group, is considering its exit options, including a possible sale, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Corporate Lobbyists Assail Tax Overhaul They Once Cheered  | The undisputed winners of a legislative battle over the nation’s tax code are the lobbying shops, which often work to simply preserve the status quo, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
Half of New York’s Tech Workers Lack College Degrees, Report Says  | A commissioned report shows how important the technology sector has become to New York City’s economy, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
Investors Accuse 12 Banks of Foreign Exchange Price Manipulation  | Investors, including a variety of pension funds and hedge funds, have accused 12 banks of conspiring since January 2003 to manipulate the foreign exchange market, Reuters writes. The private litigation was filed on Monday night in United States District Court in Manhattan. REUTERS
Applus Services Seeking to Raise $414 Million in I.P.O.  | The Spanish testing and certification company Applus Services says its public flotation will include a primary offering of new shares by the company and a secondary offering of existing shares by its current shareholders. DealBook »
Virtu Said to Delay Planned I.P.O.  | Virtu Financial, the high-speed trading firm that announced plans last month to sell shares in an initial public offering, has delayed the deal, Bloomberg News writes, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. The delay comes amid increased scrutiny of high-frequency traders driven in part by Michael Lewis’s new book, “Flash Boys.†BLOOMBERG NEWS
Tech Titans Are Vying to Be Your Pocketbook  | Companies like Google, Amazon, PayPal and Apple are looking for the route to dominance over future alternatives, both real-world and virtual, to cash and credit cards. DealBook »
A Skype Founder and a Famous Smoothie Maker Swap Tales in London  | As the London’s technology scene rises, many are trying to think of ways to avoid the kind of tensions that have arisen between the haves and have-nots in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Bits blog reports. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
Buzz Points Raises $19 Million  | Discover Financial Services is backing Buzz Points, a loyalty rewards start-up, filling out a $19 million round to finance the company as it aims to enter new markets across the country, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
British Regulator to Use ‘Big Data’ in Antitrust Enforcement  | The Competition and Markets Authority of Britain plans to use “big data†to identify industries where traditional players are stifling competition from online rivals. The new regulator officially began operation on Tuesday. DealBook »
G.M. Takes a Step Toward Families  | Mary Barra, General Motors’ chief, announced the hiring of Kenneth Feinberg, who oversaw compensation funds after 9/11 and the BP oil spill, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
At Hearing, Caterpillar Defends Tax Practices  | Officials of Caterpillar sparred with members of a Senate panel on Tuesday, defending more than a decade’s worth of tax practices that put most of the company’s profits out of reach of United States tax authorities, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
European Finance Ministers Approve New Loans for Greece  | Pointing to signs that Greece is emerging from its economic crisis, euro zone finance ministers approved the release of 8.3 billion euros in rescue loans, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
World Bank to Lift Lending to Developing Countries  | The institution announced that it would increase its capacity to lend to middle-income countries like China, India and Brazil from $15 billion to as much as $28 billion a year, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Unemployment Malaise Lingers in Euro Zone  | While the jobless rate ticked higher in France and set a record in Italy, it stood at 11.9 percent in the wider 18-nation currency bloc, unchanged from January’s revised figure, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
