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E*Trade CEO: Bankruptcy Talk 'Irresponsible'
By CNBC.com | 14 Nov 2007 | 07:28 PM ET
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Suggestions that E*Trade Financial Corp. faces bankruptcy are "absolutely irresponsible," the company's CEO said in an interview on CNBC Wednesday.

"Specifically referencing bankruptcy when we are well capitalized and we have excess capital, when we are sound, when our retail franchise has never been stronger, and mention a run on the bank in my mind is absolutely irresponsible; irresponsible to shareholders, irresponsible  to our customers, and irresponsible to our employees," said Mitchell Caplan.

On Monday Citigroup analyst Prashant Bhatia on Monday downgraded E*Trade's shares to "sell" from "hold." In laying out a worst-case scenario for E-Trade, Bhatia suggested writedowns and a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry could lead to a significant number of clients closing accounts. Bhatia pegged E-Trade's chances of filing for bankruptcy at 15 percent.

Other equity analysts downgraded their ratings or reduced their price targets but did not raise the specter of bankruptcy.

The stock [ETFC  Loading...      ()   ]nearly lost 60 percent of its value Monday. It rebounded 15 percent Tuesday and another 11 percent on Wednesday.

Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

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