The Wall Street Journal reports that Toronto-Dominion bank is looking for a buyer for its US online trading operation TD Waterhouse, citing people familiar with the sitution.
According to the report, TD Bank, which paid about $500 million for Waterhouse in 1996, has hired Goldman Sachs to help look for buyers. The firm, which has about 3.3 million US accounts, could command a purchase price of up to $1 billion say industry insiders.
Leading discount brokerages Charles Schwab and E*Trade are considered possible bidders, alongside major banks such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo and FleetBoston.
The move comes two weeks after TD pulled out of the Australian retail market by selling its Waterhouse unit to Commonwealth Bank of Australia and embarked on a major restructuring of its UK operations.