NEW YORK -- The board of directors of E*Trade Financial Corp. have elected Chairman Donald Layton as its new CEO effective immediately.
Layton's 32 years of experience in financial services includes 29 years at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its predecessors, serving most recently as vice chairman, and as a member of its three-person office of the chairman and its executive committee. At the time of his retirement from JPMorgan Chase, Layton was responsible for approximately half of the firm's business, including all Chase-branded activities, which included the consumer, small business and middle market businesses; the wholesale operating services business, custody, cash management and institutional trust; and oversight of all technology.
Jarrett Lilien, who was appointed acting CEO on Nov. 29, 2007, will resume his role as president and chief operating officer and remain a director of E*Trade, the company announced on March 3.
E*Trade has been significantly impacted by losses after the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. The company's market value plummeted 81% during the past 12 months to $2 billion. In January, the online brokerage said it expects to take additional writedowns of $400 million to $600 million this year on its mortgage portfolio. Most of those writedowns are related to losses in its $12 billion home-equity portfolio.
"The board is fortunate to have had the opportunity to work closely with Don over the last few months as he helped construct the company's Turnaround Plan," said C. Cathleen Raffaeli, E*Trade's newly-elected lead independent director and member of the CEO search committee. "We have been tremendously impressed with his leadership and his vast business experience, which spans capital markets, consumer financial services and financial institution management."
