Talks between rival discount brokers E*Trade and TD Ameritrade about a possible $20 billion merger have rekindled speculation that further consolidation among US retail brokerages could be on the cards.
The news of the talks comes about three months after AG Edwards, the largest independent regional brokerage in the US, agreed to sell to Wachovia for $6.8 billion, to create the country’s second-biggest brokerage house. With a combined $1.1 trillion in customer assets and 1,512 offices, the new Wachovia Securities is bigger than Citi’s US brokerage and second only to Merrill Lynch.
Wachovia combined its securities unit with that of Prudential Financial in a joint venture in 2003 that transformed it...
