Steve Cohen, whose former investment firm pleaded guilty to criminal insider trading charges, plans to return to hedge funds with a $20 billion goal in mind, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The new hedge fund could launch as early as 2018, according to recent conversations Cohen and his representatives have had with bankers, colleagues and potential investors, the Journal says.

Cohen is restricted from managing others' money until that time.

Should the billionaire's plans go through, this would mark the biggest U.S. hedge-fund launch in history, according to data the Journal accessed from industry publisher Absolute Return.

To surpass his $20 billion target, Cohen is prepared to lower his famously high fees, people familiar with Cohen's plans tell the Journal.

Cohen's new firm is likely to launch with a so-called pass-through arrangement, a relatively uncommon structure under which recurring expenses are paid directly by investors instead of the fund firm, the people familiar with the proposition add.

Cohen's SAC Capital paid $1.2 billion in November 2013 in a settlement with regulators over securities fraud charges. Months after the settlement, Cohen renamed the hedge fund Point72 Asset Management to manage his family's fortune.

A representative from Point72 declined to comment, while Cohen was not immediately available for a response.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal here.