eTrade 2009 Annual Report Download - page 4

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to
our future plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. These statements may be identified by the use of words
such as “expect,” “may,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan” and similar expressions. Our actual results could differ
materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements, and we caution that we do not undertake to
update these statements. Factors that could contribute to our actual results differing from any forward-looking
statements include those discussed under “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in this report. The cautionary statements made in this report
should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this report. We
further caution that there may be risks associated with owning our securities other than those discussed in this
report.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
OVERVIEW
E*TRADE Financial Corporation is a financial services company that provides online brokerage and related
products and services primarily to individual retail investors, under the brand “E*TRADE Financial.” Our
primary focus is to profitably grow our online brokerage business, which includes our active trader and long term
investing customers. We also provide investor-focused banking products, primarily sweep deposits and savings
products, to retail investors. Our competitive strategy is to attract and retain customers by emphasizing low-cost,
ease of use and innovation, with delivery of our products and services primarily through online and technology-
intensive channels.
Our corporate offices are located at 135 East 57th Street, New York, New York 10022. We were
incorporated in California in 1982 and reincorporated in Delaware in July 1996. We have approximately 3,100
employees. We operate directly and through numerous subsidiaries many of which are overseen by governmental
and self-regulatory organizations. Our most significant subsidiaries are described below:
• E*TRADE Bank is a federally chartered savings bank that provides investor-focused banking products
to retail customers nationwide and deposit accounts insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (“FDIC”);
• E*TRADE Capital Markets, LLC is a registered broker-dealer and market-maker;
• E*TRADE Clearing LLC is the clearing firm for our brokerage subsidiaries and is a wholly-owned
operating subsidiary of E*TRADE Bank. Its main purpose is to transfer securities from one party to
another; and
• E*TRADE Securities LLC is a registered broker-dealer and became a wholly-owned operating
subsidiary of E*TRADE Bank in June 2009. It is the primary provider of brokerage services to our
customers.
A complete list of our subsidiaries can be found in Exhibit 21.1.
We provide services to customers in the U.S. through our website at www.etrade.com. In addition to our
website, we also provide services through our network of customer service representatives, relationship managers
and investment advisors. We also provide these services over the phone or in person through our 28 E*TRADE
Branches. Information on our website is not a part of this report.
STRATEGY
Our core business is our trading and investing customer franchise. Our strategy is to profitably grow this
business by focusing on two primary groups of customers: traders and long-term investors. We believe our trading
customers, particularly our active traders, are the foundation of our brokerage business and we are focused on
1