E*Trade Financial is planning to close its UK brokerage business and focus on the US, according to the Wall Street Journal.
E*Trade Securities customers have been told of the closure and given the choice of transferring their accounts or liquidating their positions, says the Journal, citing sources.
The move follows recent similar steps taken by Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade to pull back from their European operations and concentrate on North America.
After getting badly burned by the US mortgage crisis and recording heavy losses, E*Trade has been gradually offloading large chunks of its business in places like India, Germany, the Nordics and Canada over the last few years.
E*Trade Will Close U.K. Brokerage - WSJ