| 09 September 2009

Donald Layton is out as Chairman and CEO of E*TRADE Financial (ETFC) as of the end of this year. His contract is expiring and all things are going just as planned, according to the Board. An announcement was made by the company today.

Eight consecutive quarters of quarterly losses might not have been part of that plan, but a significant recapitalization of the company certainly was. Layton took the reigns in late 2007 and almost immediately secured $2.5 billion in for the struggling company.

Layton's role was that of a typical turnaround artist -- shore up the balance sheet, reorganize shareholders and stakeholders, figure out how to get rid of the bad bets made by previous administrations and get the company back on track, focused on its core business -- the brokerage business.

E*TRADE continued to grow accounts and assets but overall lost ground to rivals Schwab (SCHW) and TD Ameritrade (AMTD).

Robert Druskin, one of E*TRADE's Directors, said, "We are very grateful for the many invaluable contributions Don has made in helping E*TRADE navigate these extremely difficult economic times. Despite facing unprecedented challenges, E*TRADE has evolved under his leadership into a company that is poised to take advantage of new growth opportunities, particularly in its online brokerage business. We wish him the best in the future."

Layton will continue on in his role through the end of this year and will help in the search for a replacement.