UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Filed by the Registrant  x                         Filed by a Party other than the Registrant  ¨

Check the appropriate box:

E*TRADE Financial Corporation

(Name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(Name of person(s) filing proxy statement, if other than the registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders

To Be Held May 10, 20127, 2015

TO OUR STOCKHOLDERS:

You are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of E*TRADE Financial Corporation (“E*TRADE,” the “Company”,“Company,” “us” or “we”), which will be held at the Time & Life Building Conference Center, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor—Room # 1,#1 (2^nd Floor), New York, NY 10020, on May 10, 20127, 2015 at 10:008:30 a.m. local time,EDT, for the following purposes:

The Board has fixed the close of business on March 12, 20129, 2015 as the record date for determining those stockholders entitled to receive notice of, to attend and to vote at the Annual Meeting.

We have adopted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule that allows companiesThe Company is pleased to continue to furnish theirits proxy materials overto its stockholders via the Internet. As a result, we are mailing a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Internet Availability Notice”) to our stockholders instead of a paper copy of this Proxy Statement and our 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K, other than to those stockholders who have previously requested printed materials. The Internet Availability Notice contains instructions on how to access and review those documents over the Internet as well as instructions on how to obtain printed materials. We believe that this process allows us to provide our stockholders with the information they need in a more timely manner, while reducing the environmental impact and lowering the costs of printing and distributing our proxy materials. If you received ana Notice of Internet Availability Noticeof Proxy Materials (the “Notice of Internet Availability”) by mail and would like to receive a printed copy of our proxy materials, you should follow the instructions for requesting such materials included in the Notice of Internet Availability Notice.Availability.

All stockholders of record on March 12, 2012 are invited to attend the Annual Meeting. To gain admission to the Annual Meeting, you will be required to present identification containing a photograph and some indication that you are a stockholder of the Company. For security purposes prior to gaining admission to the Annual Meeting, you will be required to go through building security in the main lobby of 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. In addition, packages and bags may be inspected and they may have to be checked at the door. Finally, other measures may be used for the security of those attending the meeting. Please plan accordingly.

Representation of at least a majority of all outstanding shares of the Company’s Common Stock in person or by proxy is required to constitute a quorum for the Annual Meeting. For that reason, itIt is important that your shares be represented at the Annual Meeting. WHETHER OR NOTEVEN IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING, PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR PROXY BY INTERNET, PHONE OR MAIL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. If you later choose to revoke your proxy or change your vote, you may do so by following the procedures described in the attached proxy statement. Unless you have previously requested printed materials or you request a paper copy of our proxy materials in the manner specified in the Notice of Internet Availability, Notice, you will not receive a paper proxy card. We encourage you to submit your proxy online. Your proxy may be revoked online at any time prior to 11:59 p.m. EDT on May 9, 2012.

Please read the proxy materials carefully. Your vote is important and the Company appreciates your cooperation in considering and acting on the matters presented.

		Very truly yours,
		Frank J. PetrilliRodger A. Lawson
		Chairman of the Board

March 30, 201225, 2015

New York, New York

PROXY SUMMARY

Below are highlights of the information that you will find in this proxy statement. This summary does not contain all of the information that you should consider, and you should read the entire proxy statement and our Annual Report for the year ending December 31, 2014 before voting.

Your Vote is Important

Please cast your vote, even if you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person.Stockholders of Record, who hold shares registered in their names, may vote:

The deadline for voting online or by telephone is 11:59 p.m. EDT on May 6, 2015. If you vote by mail, your proxy card must be received before the annual meeting.

i

Street Name Holders, who own shares through a bank or brokerage firm, may vote by returning the voting instruction form, or by following the instructions for voting via telephone or the Internet, provided by their bank or broker.

If you own shares in different accounts or in more than one name you may receive different voting instructions for each type of ownership. Please vote all your shares. If you are a Stockholder of Record or a Street Name Holder who has a legal proxy to vote the shares, you may choose to vote in person at the Annual Meeting.

Even if you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person, please cast your vote as soon as possible.

The following table provides summary information about each director nominee standing for election to the Board for a one-year term that will expire at the 2016 Annual Meeting.

ii

The Company is committed to good corporate governance, which we believe is important to the success of our business and in advancing stockholder interests. Highlights include:

The Company’s executive compensation program is overseen by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. A summary of the Compensation Committee’s philosophy on compensation and a detailed description of the Company’s executive compensation program begin on page 32 of this Proxy Statement.

iii

Stockholders Should Read the Entire Proxy Statement Carefully

Prior to Returning Their Proxy Cards

PROXY STATEMENT

FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS OF E*TRADE FINANCIAL CORPORATION

To Be Held May 10, 20127, 2015

This Proxy Statement is furnished in connection with the solicitation by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) of E*TRADE Financial Corporation (“E*TRADE,” the “Company”, “us” or “we”) of proxies to be voted at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the “Annual Meeting”), which will be held at the Time & Life Building Conference Center, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor—Room # 1,#1 (2^nd Floor), New York, NY 10020-1302,10020, on May 10, 20127, 2015 at 10:008:30 a.m. local time,EDT, or at any adjournments or postponements thereof, for the purposes set forth in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (the “Internet Availability Notice”) wasThese materials were first mailedsent or made available to stockholders on or about March 25, 2015.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING AND VOTING

Why am I receiving these materials?

We have made these materials available to you on the Internet or, upon your request, have delivered printed versions of these materials to you by mail, in connection with the Board’s solicitation of proxies for use at the Annual Meeting to be held on Thursday, May 7, 2015, at 8:30 2012. Ona.m. EDT, and at any postponements or about March 30, 2012,adjournments thereof. You are invited to attend the Annual Meeting and are requested to vote on the proposals described in this proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement”).

What is the purpose of the Annual Meeting?

At the Annual Meeting, stockholders will act upon the matters outlined in the Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders. These include the election of directors, approval of the E*TRADE Financial Corporation 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “Omnibus Incentive Plan”), an advisory non-binding vote to approve compensation paid to our Named Executive Officers (“NEOs”), and ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm. Once the business of the Annual Meeting is concluded, representatives from the Company and Deloitte & Touche LLP will be available to respond to questions from stockholders.

What is a proxy and how does it work?

The Board is asking for your proxy. A “proxy” is your legal designation of another person to vote the stock you own in the manner you direct. If you designate someone as your proxy in a written document, that document also is called a proxy or proxy card. By giving your proxy to the persons named as proxy holders in the proxy card accompanying this Proxy Statement, you authorize them to vote your shares of our common stock, $0.01 par value per share (the “Common Stock”), at the Annual Meeting in the manner you direct. You may vote your shares for, against or abstain for all, some or none of the director nominees and you may choose to vote your shares for, against or abstain with respect to the other matters we also mailedare submitting to a vote of our stockholders at the Annual Meeting.

1

If you complete and submit your proxy in one of the manners described below, but do not specify how to vote, the proxy holders will vote your shares FOR the election of directors as described in “Proposal 1—Election of Directors”; FOR approval of the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan as described in “Proposal 2—Approval of the Adoption of the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan”; FOR approval of the compensation paid to the Named Executive Officers of the Company as described in “Proposal 3—Advisory Vote to Approve Executive Compensation”; and FOR ratification of the selection of accountants as described in “Proposal 4—Ratification of Selection of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.”

How can I receive a paper copiesor electronic copy of this Proxy Statement andStatement?

We mailed the proxy cardNotice of Internet Availability to certainour stockholders, except those who had previously requested paper materials. The principal officesNotice of E*TRADE are located at 1271 AvenueInternet Availability contains instructions on how to access and review the proxy materials and our Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2014 (the “2014 Annual Report”) over the Internet. If you received a Notice of Internet Availability by mail and would like to receive a printed copy of our proxy materials, you should follow the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10020-1302.

VOTING PROCEDURES—QUESTIONS AND ANSWERSinstructions for requesting such materials included in the Notice of Internet Availability.

Who may vote and how many votes do I have?

CommonOnly common stockholders of record at the close of business on March 12, 20129, 2015 (the “Record Date”) may vote.vote at the Annual Meeting. On that date there were 285,674,695289,851,469 outstanding shares of our Common Stock $0.01 par value per share (the “Common Stock”).

All of the outstanding shares of Common Stock are entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. Stockholders of record on the Record Date will have one vote for each share of Common Stock they hold.

How do proxies work?What is the difference between a stockholder of record and a beneficial owner of stock held in street name?

The Board is asking for your proxyStockholders of Record. By giving your proxy to the persons named in this Proxy Statement, you authorize them to voteIf your shares of Commonare registered in your name with our transfer agent, American Stock at the meeting in the manner you direct. You may vote for all, some or none of the director nominees and you may choose to vote your shares or to withhold your shares with respect to the other matters we are submitting to a vote of our stockholders at the Annual Meeting. If you complete and submit your proxy voting instructions, but do not specify how to vote, the persons named as proxies will vote your shares FOR declassifying the Company’s Board as described in “Proposal 1—Declassification of theTransfer & Trust Company, Board of Directors”; FOR the election of directors as described in “Proposal 2—Election of Directors”; FOR approval of the compensation paid to the Named Executive Officers of the Company as described in “Proposal 3—”Advisory Vote to Approve Executive Compensation”; and FOR ratification of the selection of accountants as described in “Proposal 4—Ratification of Selection of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm”.

How can I receive a paper or electronic copy of this proxy statement?

We mailed the Internet Availability Notice to our stockholders instead of a paper copy of this Proxy Statement and our 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K, except to certain stockholders who previously requested paper materials. The Internet Availability Notice contains instructions on how to access and review those

1

documents over the Internet. If you received an Internet Availability Notice by mail and would like to receive a printed copy of our proxy materials, you should follow the instructions for requesting such materials included in the Internet Availability Notice.

How do I vote?

You may vote in person by attending the meeting or by proxy. IfLLC, you are a stockholder of record with respect to those shares and the Notice of Internet Availability or the proxy materials were sent directly to you by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.

Street Name Holders. If you hold your shares in an account at a bank or broker, you are the beneficial owner of shares held in “street name.” The Notice of Internet Availability or proxy materials were forwarded to you by your bank or broker, who is considered the stockholder of record for purposes of voting at the Annual Meeting. As a beneficial owner, you have the right to direct your bank or broker on how to vote the shares held in your account. See the voting instruction form provided by your bank or broker for instructions.

How can I vote my shares?

By Written Proxy. All stockholders of record who received a Notice of Internet Availability or the proxy materials electronically may request a proxy card at any time by following the instructions on the Record Date,Notice of Internet Availability or on the voting website (www.proxyvote.com). If you are a street name holder, you will receive instructions on how you may vote by proxy through thefrom your bank or broker, unless you previously enrolled in electronic delivery.

By Telephone or Internet. All stockholders of record may vote by telephone or by mail. You may followusing the instructionstoll-free telephone number on the proxy card, or the instructions below for voting by one of these methods.

To vote through the Internet please visitby visitingwww.proxyvote.com before 11:59 p.m. EDT on May 9, 2012.6, 2015. The Internet and telephone voting procedures are designed to authenticate the stockholder’s identity and tostockholders’ identities, allow stockholders to vote their shares and to confirm that their instructions have been properly recorded. If you would like to receive future stockholder materials electronically, please enroll after you complete your voting process onwww.proxyvote.com.

Please help us reduce the impact on the environment and save time and postage costs Street name holders may vote by voting through the Internet or by telephone. If your shares are heldtelephone if their bank or broker makes those methods available, in “street name” by awhich case the bank or broker or other nominee, you will receiveenclose instructions fromwith the holderproxy materials.

2

In Person. All stockholders of record that you must followmay vote in order toperson at the Annual Meeting. Street name holders may vote your shares. in person at the Annual Meeting if they have a legal proxy, as described below.

Whether you plan to attend the Annual Meeting or not, we encourage you to vote by proxy as soon as possible.Please note that the Notice of Internet Availability is not a proxy card and it cannot be used to vote your shares.

What does it mean if I receive more than one Notice of Internet Availability Notice or Proxy Card?Voting Instruction Form?

You may receive more than one Notice of Internet Availability Notice or Proxy Cardvoting instruction form depending on how you hold your shares. You will receive ana Notice of Internet Availability Notice or Proxy Card for shares registered in your name. If you holdare the beneficial owner of shares through someone else, such as a bank or broker,held in street name, you may also receive materialsa voting instruction form from themyour bank or broker asking how you want to vote. If your shares are registered differently and are in more than one account, you will receive more than one Notice of Internet Availability Notice or Proxy Cardvoting instruction form and may have to cast multiple votes. We encourage you to have all accounts registered in the same name and address whenever possible.

Can I change my vote?

You canStockholders of record may revoke youra proxy and/or change their vote before the time of voting at the Annual Meeting in several ways (the revocation has to be received before the Annual Meeting to be counted):by:

To be counted, revocations submitted in a manner provided for above must be received the day before the Annual Meeting. You canmay also revoke your proxy by voting in person at the Annual Meeting.

Street name holders may revoke a proxy and/or change their vote before the time of voting at the Annual Meeting by:

Who can attend the Annual Meeting?

Only stockholders of record on March 12, 2012as of the Record Date, or their duly appointed proxies, and guests of the Company may attend the Annual Meeting.

Stockholders of Record. Please bring photo identification and proof of share ownership with you to the meeting.Annual Meeting. For example, the Notice of Internet Availability Notice received in connection with this meeting or a bank or brokerage account statement showing that you owned Common Stock in the Company on March 12, 2012, the Record Date is acceptable proof.as proof of share ownership if you are a record holder.

Street Name Holders. If you are a street name holder, you may not vote your shares at the Annual Meeting unless you obtain a legal proxy from your bank or broker. A legal proxy is a bank’s or broker’s authorization for you to vote the shares it holds in its name on your behalf. To obtain a legal proxy, please contact your bank or broker for further information. Please bring photo identification and a legal proxy with you to the Annual Meeting.

23

What constitutes a “quorum”quorum for the Annual Meeting?

A quorum is necessary to conduct business at the Annual Meeting. A quorum requires the presence of a majority of the outstanding shares of Common Stock entitled to vote, in person or represented by proxy. YouYour shares will be counted toward the quorum requirement if you have voted by proxy.

Abstentions and broker non-votes and votes withheld from director nominees count as “shares present” at the meeting for purposes of determining a quorum. A broker non-vote occurs when a bank, broker or other nominee who holds shares for anothera beneficial owner does not vote on a particular item because the nominee does not have discretionary voting authority forto vote on that item and has not received instructions from the beneficial owner of the shares.

ThereIf a quorum is no separatenot present, the Annual Meeting will be adjourned until a quorum requirement for the advisory vote to approve the compensation paid by the Company to its Named Executive Officers in Proposal 3.is obtained.

How many votes are needed?needed to approve each of the proposals?

ApprovalFor “Proposal 1—Election of Proposal 1 to amend our Charter to declassify the Board requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of all shares of Common Stock entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. For Proposal 2, assuming a quorum is present, in an uncontested electionDirectors,” directors arewill be elected by a majority of the votes cast. “Votes cast” excludes both abstentions and “broker non-votes.”non-votes” (described above). In an uncontested election, such as this year’s election, any director nominee who receives an equal or greater number of votes “against” or “withheld” from his or her election as compared to votes “for” his or her election must tender his or her resignation to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is required to make recommendations to the Board with respect to any such tendered resignation. The Board will act on the tendered resignation within 90 days from the certification of the stockholder vote and will publicly disclose its decision, including its rationale. Please see “Board Meetings and Committees—Majority Voting Standard and Director Resignation Policy” below for further details.

TheFor “Proposal 2—Approval of the Adoption of the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan,” an affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast will be considered approval of the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no impact as they are not counted as votes on Proposal 2.

For “Proposal 3—Advisory Vote to Approve Compensation of Named Executive Officers,” the outcome of the votes on the compensation paid by the Company to its Named Executive Officers in Proposal 3vote will not be binding on the Board. Therefore, there is no required vote on these resolutions. The Board or the Compensation Committee. However, the Board and the Compensation Committee, in the exercise of itstheir fiduciary duties, willexpect to consider the outcome of the advisory vote in determining howfuture compensation decisions. An affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast will be considered approval, by an advisory vote, of the Company’s compensation paid to proceed following such vote. Anour Named Executive Officers. Abstentions and broker non-votes will have no impact, as they are not counted as votes cast, on Proposal 3.

For “Proposal 4—Ratification of Selection of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm,” an affirmative vote of the majority of the shares of common stockCommon Stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the item will be considered the approval, by an advisory vote,ratification of the compensation of our Named Executive Officers in Proposal 3 and to recommend, by an advisory vote, and to ratify the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm in Proposal 4. If you hold your shares in your own name and abstain from voting on these matters, your abstentionfirm. Abstentions will have the same effect as a vote against Proposals 1, 3 andProposal 4.

If you hold your shares of Common Stock throughare a brokerstreet name holder and you do not instruct the bank or broker on how to vote your shares, your bank or broker may exercise its discretionary authority to vote your shares regardingwith regard to Proposal 4, but cannot exercise its discretionary authority to vote your shares regarding Proposals 1, 2 and 3. Such broker non-votes will have the effect of a vote against Proposal 1, but will have no effect with respect to Proposals 2 and 3.3, thus resulting in “broker non-votes.”

Who pays for the solicitation of proxies?

The Company pays the cost of soliciting proxies. We retained Morrow & Co., LLC, 470 West Ave., Stamford, CT 06902Innisfree M&A Incorporated to advise the Company and assist with theour solicitation of proxies for an estimated fee of $17,500 plus reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. We will reimburse banks, brokerage firms and other custodians, nominees and fiduciaries for their

4

reasonable out-of-pocket expenses for sending soliciting materials to stockholdersbeneficial owners and obtaining their votes. In addition to solicitation by mail, proxies may be solicited personally, or by telephone or electronic media by our employees.

3

What if only one copy of thesethe Notice of Internet Availability or proxy materials was delivered to multiple stockholders who share a single address?

In some cases, only one mailing envelope with multipleA single Notice of Internet Availability Notices (or delivery of one copy of this Proxy Statement and the accompanying 2011 Form 10-K,2014 Annual Report, for those stockholders who previously requested paper copies) is beingwill be delivered in one envelope to multiple stockholders sharing anhaving the same last name and address and to individuals with more than one account registered at American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC with the same address unless we have received contrary instructions have been received from onean affected stockholder.

If you would like to enroll in this service or morereceive individual copies of the stockholders. We will deliver promptly, upon written or oral request, a separate copy of the mailing to a stockholder at a shared address to which a single copy of the mailing was delivered. To request a separate delivery of the mailingall documents, now or in the future, you may submit a written request to our Corporate Secretary, at the Company’s principal offices located at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10020-1302. You may also send an email to ir@etrade.com or call us at (646) 521-4340. Additionally, any stockholdersWe will deliver a separate copy of all documents to an individual stockholder who are presently sharingshares an address and receiving multiple copies ofwith another stockholder upon request to the same mailings and who would rather receiveaddress, email or telephone number provided above even if a single copy of such materials may instruct us accordingly by directing their request to us in the manner provided above.

4

PROPOSAL 1

DECLASSIFICATION OF THE COMPANY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Proposed Amendment to the Company Charter

Currently, the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Charter”) divides Board members into three classes. One class is elected at each Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to hold office for a term beginning on the date of the election and ending on the date of the third Annual Meeting of Stockholders following the beginning of the term.

After careful consideration, the Board has determined that it would be in the best interests of the stockholders to declassify the Board to allow the stockholders to vote on the election of the entire Board each year, rather than on a staggered basis. The proposed amendment to the Charter is set forth in Annex A to this Proxy Statement. In addition, the Board has also conditionally approved, subject to stockholder approval of this proposal, amendments to the Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Company, set forth in Annex B to this Proxy Statement, in order to further implement the changes under this proposal. Furthermore, each Class I director whose term would otherwise expire at the 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders has submitted a letter of resignation providing for his resignation effective immediately prior to the 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, subject to the approval of this proposal by the stockholders.

If this proposal is approved by the stockholders, the proposed amendment will be filed with the Delaware Secretary of State, and the directors standing for election at this year’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders, if elected, will serve for a one-year term expiring at the 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and, commencing at the 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, all directors will become subject to election on an annual basis for a one-year term. Vacancies which may occur during the year may be filled by the Board and each director so appointed shall serve for a term which will expire at the next Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

If the stockholders do not approve this proposal, then the Board will remain classified, with each class of directors serving a term of three years, and the term of the directors standing for election at this year’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders, if elected, will expire on the date of the 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, in all cases, each director will hold office until his or her successor is duly elected, or until his or her earlier resignation or removal.

Considerations of the Board

The Board recognizes that a classified structure may offer several advantages, such as promoting board continuity and stability, encouraging directors to take a long-term perspective, and ensuring that a majority of the Board will always have prior experience with the Company, especially in light of an increasingly complex and changing regulatory environment. Additionally, classified boards may motivate potential acquirors seeking control to initiate arms-length discussions with the Board, rather than engaging in unsolicited or coercive takeover tactics, since potential acquirors are unable to replace the entire Board in a single election, thereby better enabling the Board to maximize stockholder value and to ensure the equal and fair treatment of stockholders. The Board also recognizes that a classified structure may reduce directors’ accountability to stockholders because such a structure does not enable stockholders to express a view on each director’s performance by means of an annual vote. Moreover, many institutional investors believe that the election of directors is the primary means for stockholders to influence corporate governance policies and to hold management accountable for implementing those policies.

In determining whether to support declassification of the Board, the Board considered the arguments in favor of and against continuation of the classified board structure and determined that it would be in the best interests of the Company and the stockholders to declassify the Board.documents was originally delivered.

5

Required VotePROPOSAL 1

Approval of this proposal requires the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of all shares of Common Stock entitled to vote at this Annual Meeting. If you hold your shares in your own name and abstain from voting on this matter, your abstention will have the same effect as a negative vote. If you hold your shares through a broker and you do not instruct the broker on how to vote on this proposal, your broker will not have authority to vote your shares. Broker non-votes will have the same effect as a negative vote.

The Board unanimously recommends that you vote “FOR” the proposal to amend the Charter to declassify the Board.

6

PROPOSAL 2

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

FiveListed below are the Company’s eleven directors, are currently standing for election toeach of which have been nominated by the Board. Currently, the Company Charter divides Board members into three classes. One class is elected at each Annual Meeting of Stockholders, to hold office for a term beginning on the date of the election and ending on the date of the third Annual Meeting of Stockholders following the beginning of the term. Mr. Petrilli was appointed as a Class III director and named Chairman of the Board in January, 2012 and Mr. Lawson and Ms. Saeger were appointed as Class III directors in February, 2012. Each will be standing for election by ourthe stockholders at the Annual Meeting and have agreed to be named in this Annual Meeting.

If Proposal 1 is approved by the Stockholders,Proxy Statement and to serve if elected. Under the Company’s Charter will be amended to provide that all directors standing for election will become subject to election on an annual basis for a one-year term. As a result,Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, each of the fiveeleven nominees standing for election at this Annual Meeting would, if elected, serve for a one-year term expiringbeginning on the date of election and ending at the 20132016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. In addition, as discussed further under Proposal 1, assuming Proposal 1 is approved by the stockholders, each of the directors who is not otherwise scheduled to stand for election until following the 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders has submitted a letter of resignation providing for his resignation effective immediately prior to the 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Accordingly, if Proposal 1 is approved by the stockholders, all directors will stand for election for a one-year term beginning at the 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, in all cases, each director will hold office until his or her successor is duly elected, or until his or her earlier resignation or removal. Christopher Flink, one of our current directors, is not standing for re-election at the Annual Meeting.

The nominees for the Board are set forth below. In the absence of contrary instructions, the proxy holders intend to vote all proxies received by them in the accompanying form FOR the nominees for director listed below. InAlthough we know of no reason why any of the event thatnominees would not be able to serve, if any nominee is unable to or declines to serve as a director at the time of the Annual Meeting, the proxies will be votedunavailable for any nominee who is designated by the present Board to fill the vacancy. In the event that additional persons are nominated for election, as directors, the proxy holders intend to vote all proxies they receiveyour Common Stock for any substitute nominee proposed by the nominees listed below. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, the Board is not aware of any nominee who will be unable or decline, to serve as a director.Board.

Qualifications of Directors

The Board, acting through the Nominating and Corporateits Governance Committee, (the “Nominating Committee”), is responsible for recommending to the stockholders a group of nominees that, taken together, have a significant breadth and diversity of experience, professional expertise, knowledge and abilities to carry out the experience, qualifications, attributes and skillsBoard’s responsibilities. Our Governance Committee Charter requires the Governance Committee to function effectively as a board. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines require the Nominating Committee periodically to review the composition of the Board and its committees in light of the risks, current challenges and needs of the Company and determine whether to add or remove individuals “afterafter considering issues of knowledge, expertise, judgment, term of service, age, skills, diversity of background and experience and relations with various constituencies.”

In presenting this year’s nominees, the NominatingGovernance Committee considered, among other things, the invaluable experience theythe nominees gained in dealing withenhancing their oversight over management in light of the heightened standards from the Company’s credit and capital issues,its subsidiaries’ regulators, their ability to work as a collegial group during various intense and stressful periods and their willingness to spend the time necessary to perform their role despite other professional commitments.

In addition to the characteristics common to all of our directors, which include integrity, a strong professional reputation and a record of achievement in senior executive capacities, the NominatingGovernance Committee has included on ourthe Board persons with diverse backgrounds and skills reflecting the needs of the Company.

7

In determining thatevaluating each member of the Board should servenominee for service on the Board, the NominatingGovernance Committee considersconsidered the following specific experience and skills of the current Board:

Nominees to the Board of DirectorsDirectors:

Richard J. Carbone has been a director of the Company since August 2013. Mr. Carbone was formerly Chief Financial Officer of Prudential Financial, Inc. from 1997 through 2013, and served as Executive Vice President until retiring from that position in February 2014. Mr. Carbone brings nearly four decades of experience in financial services, having held senior finance office positions in both the banking and securities industries, including Managing Director and Controller of Salomon Brothers and Senior Vice President and Controller of Bankers Trust Company. He began his career at Price Waterhouse & Co. Mr. Carbone received an M.B.A. from St. John’s University and is a Certified Public Accountant. He was an officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1969 to 1972. Mr. Carbone is a member of the board of directors for Resolution Life Holdings and its indirect subsidiary, Lincoln Beneficial Life. He is also a director on the board of a non-profit organization focused on helping disabled adults and indigent children. Mr. Carbone is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board and a member of the Audit Committee, where he is designated an audit committee financial expert, and the Compensation Committee.

James P. Healyhas been a director of the Company since January 2015. He had a 25-year career in the Investment Banking arm of the Credit Suisse Group, where he served as Global Head of the Fixed Income Division from 2003 to 2007. Other leadership positions while at Credit Suisse included Global Head of Emerging Markets Group, and the Global Co-Head of Credit Suisse Financial Products, which housed the firm’s derivative businesses. Prior to joining Credit Suisse, Mr. Healy was as an economist at the International Monetary Fund, served as a consultant to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and as a visiting scholar at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. He is currently the CEO of Capra Ibex Advisors, a registered Investment Advisor he founded in 2010 to provide investment and risk management advice to select financial institutions, including First Republic Bank and JPMorgan Chase. Mr. Healy is a member of the Board of Directors of Student Sponsor Partners, a New York City philanthropy serving 1,400 disadvantaged high school students, and served as its Board Chair from 2010 to 2014. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University, a M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University. Mr. Healy is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board and the Risk Oversight Committee.

Paul T. Idzik has been a director of the Company and Chief Executive Officer since January 2013. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Idzik was Group Chief Executive of DTZ Holdings plc in London from November 2008 to August 2011. He also spent 10 years at Barclays PLC, first as Chief Administration Officer, then Chief Operating Officer at Barclays Capital Group and then as Group Chief Operating Officer of Barclays PLC. Mr. Idzik began his career as a consultant and spent over a decade with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. Mr. Idzik has a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in Computer Applications from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago. He is President of E*TRADE Bank and a member of the E*TRADE Bank board.

7

Frederick W. Kanner has been a director of the Company since April 2008. Mr. Kanner is Senior Of Counsel at the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP in New York City since May 2012. He was a partner in the law firm of Dewey Ballantine LLP and subsequently Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP from 1976 until he retired from the full-time practice of law at the end of 2009 and was Of Counsel until 2012. He served as Chairman of Dewey’s Corporate Finance practice for more than 15 years and as a member of its Management Committee for 20 years. He is a member of the board of directors of Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (where he serves as Chairman of the Compensation Committee), National Benefit Life Insurance Company (where he serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee) and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Mr. Kanner received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Kanner is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board and a member of the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Governance Committee.

James Lam has been a director of the Company since November 2012. Mr. Lam is currently President of James Lam & Associates, a firm focused on corporate governance and risk management, since January 2002. He previously served as Founder and President of ERisk, Chief Risk Officer of Fidelity Investments and Chief Risk Officer of GE Capital Markets Services, Inc. He is the author of the best-selling book,Enterprise Risk Management (Wiley, 2003). Mr. Lam graduatedsumma cum laude with a B.B.A. from Baruch College in 1983 and received an M.B.A. with honors from UCLA in 1989. In 2004, he was appointed Senior Research Fellow at Peking University. Mr. Lam has taught M.B.A. classes at Babson College and the Hult International Business School. He has also guest lectured at Harvard Business School. Mr. Lam is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board, a member and Chair of the Risk Oversight Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.

Rodger A. Lawsonhas been a director of the Company since February 2012.2012 and Chairman of the Board since May 2013. Mr. Lawson also served as Lead Independent Director from August 2012 to January 2013. Mr. Lawson is a retired financial services executive who most recently served as President and CEOChief Executive Officer of Fidelity Investments – Financial Services.Services from 2007 through 2010. Prior to joining Fidelity, Mr. Lawson served in several senior executive roles with Prudential Financial including Vice Chairman of Prudential Financial. He has held numerous other executive positions in financial services, including President and CEOChief Executive Officer of Van Eck Global, and President, CEOChief Executive Officer and Partner of Global Private Banking at Bankers Trust Asset Management.Company. Previously, Mr. Lawson was President and CEOChief Executive Officer of Fidelity Investments Retail Group and CEOChief Executive Officer of the Dreyfus Service Corporation. Mr. Lawson earned a B.A. from London University and a M.Sc. from Bradford University. He is currently on the board of directors of UnitedHealth Group, Inc., where his appointment was endorsed by CalPERS, the largest US public pension fund, for its best practices nomination process. Mr. Lawson is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board.

8

He previously served in board, roles for the Dreyfus Service Corporation, Fidelity Investments,Governance Committee and Van Eck Global. Mr. Lawson earned a Bacheloranex officio member of Arts from London Universitythe Audit, Compensation and a Master of Science from Bradford University.Risk Oversight Committees.

Frank J. PetrilliShelley B. Leibowitz has been a director and Chairman of the BoardCompany since January 2012. Most recently, Mr. Petrilli was Chief Executive Officer of Surge Trading, Inc. and previouslyDecember 2014. From 2009 through 2012, Ms. Leibowitz served as PresidentGroup Chief Information Officer for the World Bank, where she was responsible for the technology services and capabilities that underlie the work of delivering quality knowledge and financing products to the Bank Group’s clients across the globe. Ms. Leibowitz managed the Bank Group’s cybersecurity program and served as a member of the Bank’s Pension Investment Committee. Previously, Ms. Leibowitz held Chief ExecutiveInformation Officer of Nexxar Group, Inc. From 1995 to 2004 he held several positions at TD Waterhouse, during that periodMorgan Stanley, Greenwich Capital Markets and Barclays Capital. Ms. Leibowitz also served as Board member and technology advisor for GAIN Capital, now listed on the NYSE. In 2002, Ms. Leibowitz received a US subsidiaryMerit Award from the Women’s Bond Club of TD Bank Group, including President and CEO. Prior to TD Waterhouse, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of American Express Centurion Bank. Mr. Petrilli has served on various non-profit boards, including the American Red Cross in Greater New York Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC,for career achievement and Fordham University. He holdsleadership in the financial industry. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Williams College with a Bachelor of Science from Fordham College of Business andB.A. in Mathematics. Ms. Leibowitz is currently an M.B.A. from Fordham Graduate School of Business and he received his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1986. Mr. PetrilliAdvisor to security intelligence firm Endgame. Ms. Leibowitz is the Chairman and a member of the E*TRADE Bank board and is also a member of the Company’s Nominating and Corporate GovernanceRisk Oversight Committee.

Rebecca Saeger has been a director of the Company since February 2012. Ms. Saeger wasserved as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Charles Schwab (“Schwab”) from 2004 through 2010.2010, most recently as Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to joining Charles Schwab, she was Executive Vice President, Marketing at Visa U.S.A. Previously, Ms. Saeger was Senior Vice President and head of Account Management at Foote, Cone & Belding and Senior Vice President at Ogilvy & Mather. She has served on the board of directors as Chair of the Association of National

8

Advertisers (ANA). Ms. Saeger is member of the E*TRADE Bank board. She received a Bachelor of ArtsB.A. from Muhlenberg College and an MBAM.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Saeger is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board, a member and Chair of the Compensation Committee and a member of the Governance Committee.

Joseph L. Sclafani has been a director of the Company since June 2008. Mr. Sclafani is formerwas formerly Executive Vice President and Controller of JPMorgan Chase & Co., responsible for corporate financial operations, regulatory reporting, financial accounting and reporting and accounting policies until December 2006. His 38 years of experience include 27 years at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its predecessors, serving most recently as Corporate Controller responsible for corporate financial operations, regulatory reporting, financial accounting and reporting and accounting policies.predecessors. Mr. Sclafani also spent 11 years at KPMG as a certified public accountant. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degreeB.A. from St. Francis College in Brooklyn and completed post-graduate studies in finance at Bernard Baruch.M. Baruch College. Mr. Sclafani is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board, a member and the Chair of the Audit Committee, where he is designated an audit committee financial expert, and is a member of the Finance and Risk Oversight Committee.

StephenGary H. WillardStern has beenwas appointed a director of the Company since April 2005. He is thein June 2014. Mr. Stern was President of Flamel Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Flamel Technologies S.A., a biopharmaceutical company on whose board of directors he also serves. Mr. Willard is an expert in bank regulatory matters and previously served as Associate Director of ResolutionsChief Executive Officer of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), where he was responsible for managementReserve Bank of Minneapolis from 1985 through 2009, the longest-serving president in the Bank’s history. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in 1982 as senior vice president and resolutiondirector of troubled banks with assetsresearch. His prior experience included seven years at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Mr. Stern co-authored Too Big to Fail: The Hazards of Bank Bailouts, published by The Brookings Institution (2004). He holds an A.B. in excess of $1 billion.Economics from Washington University in St. Louis, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from Rice University. He also worked as an investment banker and as an attorney in private practice. From June 2000 until joiningserved on the Company’s board, Mr. Willard served as an independent member of the board of directors of ETB Holdings, Inc. and E*TRADE Bank and is currently a member of the E*TRADE Bank board. Mr. Willard received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College and a Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School. He is a member of the Audit Committee where he is designated an audit committee financial expert, the Finance and Risk Oversight Committee, and the Nominating and Governance Committee.

The Board of Directors recommends that stockholders vote FOR election of all of the nominees as directors listed above.

9

Directors Not Standing for Election

The members ofDolan Company from 2010 to 2014. He also currently serves on the Board who are not standing for election at this year’s Annual Meeting are set forth below.

Ronald D. Fisher has been a director of Directors of Standard and Poor’s Ratings, the Company since October 2000.FDIC Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee, the Ambac Assurance Corporation, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and the National Council on Economic Education. Mr. Fisher is President of SoftBank Holdings, Inc. (“SoftBank”), where he oversees all of SoftBank’s activities outside of Asia, and is a managing partner of SoftBank Capital. He joined SoftBank in October 1995, and serves as a director of SoftBank Corporation, Japan. Mr. Fisher received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University. Mr. FisherStern is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board and the Chair of the Compensation Committee.

Steven J. Freiberg has served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and as a director since April 2010. Mr. Freiberg served as the Company’s Chairman of the Board from May 2011 until January 2012. Mr. Freiberg is a financial services industry veteran, having served in multiple senior level positions over a 30-year career at Citigroup. Most recently, Mr. Freiberg served as Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of Citigroup’s Global Consumer Group. During his tenure at Citigroup, Mr. Freiberg also served as Chairman and CEO of Citi Cards. Prior to that, as Chairman and CEO of Citigroup’s Investment Products Division N.A., Mr. Freiberg had responsibility for retail investment products, platforms, sales and service. Mr. Freiberg has served as a board member of MasterCard International since 2006. He also serves on the board of the March of Dimes and the board of trustees of Hofstra University, and is Co-Chair of the NYC Council of Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Freiberg is also on the Board of E*TRADE Bank and several other subsidiaries of the Company. Mr. Freiberg holds both a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University. Mr. Freiberg is a member of the Finance and Risk Oversight Committee.

Kenneth C. Griffin has been a director of the Company since June 2009, pursuant to a director nomination right granted in 2007 to affiliates of Citadel LLC (together with its affiliates, “Citadel”). Mr. Griffin is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Citadel, a global financial institution. Mr. Griffin serves as Vice Chairman of the Chicago Public Education Fund and is a member of the board of trustees for the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Mr. Griffin is a member of the World Economic Forum and the Economic Club of Chicago. Mr. Griffin received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College. Mr. Griffin is a member of the Finance and Risk Oversight Committee.

10

Frederick W. Kanner has been a director of the Company since April 2008. Mr. Kanner is Of Counsel at the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in New York City. He was a partner of the firm from 1976 until he retired from full-time law practice on December 31, 2009. He served as Chairman of the firm’s Corporate Finance Group for more than 15 years and as a member of its Management Committee for 20 years. He is a member of the board of directors of National Benefit Life Insurance Company, where he serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Mr. Kanner received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Kanner is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board, the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Michael K. Parks has been a director of the Company since April 2003. Mr. Parks is a Managing Director of Crescent Capital Group and for limited purposes a Managing Director of TCW Asset Management Company. From 2000 through December 2010, Mr. Parks was a Managing Director of The Trust Company of the West. From 1993 to 2000, he held various executive level positions at Aurora National Life Assurance Company (“Aurora”), a privately owned life insurance company, holding the positions of Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Investment Officer from 1996 to 2000. From 1981 to 1992, he held various positions at Salomon Brothers Inc., including the position of Director, Financial Buyers/Leveraged Finance from 1990 to 1992. Mr. Parks also serves as a director of El Paso Electric Company, a publicly traded company, and Aurora. Mr. Parks received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haverford College. Mr. Parks is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board, Chair of the Finance and Risk Oversight Committee, a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Audit Committee, where he is designated an audit committee financial expert. Mr. Parks notified the Board that he would not stand for re-election when his term expires at the 2012 Annual Meeting.

Joseph M. Velli has been a director of the Company since January 2010. Mr. Velli is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ConvergEx Group, LLC (“ConvergEx”), a global provider of software products and technology services to asset managers and financial intermediaries. Mr. Velli was formerly Senior Executive Vice President of The Bank of New York and Chief Executive Officer of BNY Securities Group. During his tenure with the Bank of New York, Mr. Velli led Global Issuer Services, Global Custody and related Investor Services, Consumer Banking and Global Marketing and Sales. He was also Sector Head of Global Issuer Services and Senior Executive Vice President, responsible for Consumer Banking at the Bank of New York. Prior to joining The Bank of New York, Mr. Velli was head of Citibank’s Depositary Receipt business. He currently serves on the board of Paychex, Inc. Mr. Velli holds an M.B.A. in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a B.A. in accounting from William Paterson University of New Jersey. Mr. Velli is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board and the Compensation Committee.

Donna L. Weaver has been a director of the Company since April 2003. Ms. Weaver is Chairman of MxSecure, Inc., a provider of internet-based transcription, electronic health recordretired corporate financial executive and speech recognition services and software to medical practices nationwide.business owner. A Certified Management Accountant, Ms. Weaver received a Bachelor of ScienceB.S. in Economics and Finance from the University of Arizona in Economics and Finance and a Master of Sciencean M.S. in Management from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Since 1986, Ms. Weaver has served on the boards of several public and private companies during her career.companies. Ms. Weaver is a member of the E*TRADE Bank board, a member and the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a member of the Audit Committee.

The Board of Directors recommends that stockholders vote FOR the election of each of the nominees as directors listed above.

119

BOARD MEETINGS AND COMMITTEES

The Board held a total of 1613 meetings during 2011.2014. Each current director attended at least 75% of the aggregate of the total number of meetings of (i) the Board and (ii) the committees of the Board, onheld during his or her tenure, of which he or she served.was a member and was eligible to attend. Our non-management directors meetmet in executive session without management at least quarterly. The Chairman of the Board or another independent Board member during Mr. Freiberg’s tenure as interim Chairman, led these meetingsexecutive sessions during 2011. Communications to2014.

To conduct its business, the Board the Chairman of the Board, the non-management directors or any other director may be sent to: E*TRADE Financial Corporation, at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10020-1302, Attention: Corporate Secretary. We do not have a formal policy regarding director attendance at our annual stockholder meeting, and nine of the twelve then-current directors attended the 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

During 2011, the Board had anmaintains four standing committees: Audit, Committee, a Compensation, Committee, a FinanceGovernance and Risk Oversight Committee and a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Each member of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee met the independence requirements of the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) and all members of the Finance and Risk Oversight Committee, with the exception of Mr. Freiberg, met these independence requirements.Oversight. The chartersprimary responsibilities of each of these committees, as well as our Code of Professional Conduct, Corporate Governance Guidelines and Related Person Transaction Policy and Procedures,committee are available on our website at investor.etrade.com in the “Corporate Governance” section. You may also request a copy of each of these documents free of charge by writing to E*TRADE Financial Corporation, at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10020-1302, Attention: Corporate Secretary. We intend to post on our website referred to above any amendments to or waivers from our Code of Professional Conduct or Related Transaction Policy and Procedures that apply to our executive officers, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. The information on our website is not a part of this Proxy Statement. The committees of the Board, their members during 2011, their primary responsibilities and the number of times the committees met during 2011 are described below.set forth below:

12

1310

Communications to the Board, the Chairman of the Board, the non-management directors or any other director may be sent to: E*TRADE Financial Corporation, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10020-1302, Attention: Corporate Secretary. The Company does not have a formal policy regarding director attendance at our annual stockholder meetings; however, all of the then-current directors attended the 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

The Company’s Code of Professional Conduct, Corporate Governance Guidelines and Related Party Transactions Policy are available on our website atabout.etrade.com in the “Corporate Governance” section. You may also request a copy of each of these documents free of charge by writing to E*TRADE Financial Corporation, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10020-1302, Attention: Corporate Secretary. We intend to post on our corporate website any amendments to, or waivers from, our Code of Professional Conduct or Related Party Transactions Policy that apply to our executive officers, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. The information on our website is not a part of this Proxy Statement.

11

Risk Management

The Board plays an active role, as a whole and also at the committee level, in overseeing the management of the Company’s risks. The Board regularly reviews reports from members of senior management and committees on areas of material risk to the Company, including credit, interest rate, liquidity, market, operational, financial,strategic, reputational, legal, strategicregulatory, and regulatorycompliance risks. In particular, the Finance and Risk Oversight Committee assists the Board and senior management, including the Company’s Chief Risk Officer, the Company’s General Counsel and the Company’s Chief Compliance Officer, in the effective identification, assessment and management of the Company’s risksrisk profile and in working to improve the financial risk and return of the Company. The Finance and Risk Oversight Committee reviews financial matters includingcapital planning processes, capital position, and capital adequacy and structure, consolidated capital reporting, significant capital expenditures, capital structure, and financing requirements. The Risk Oversight Committee also oversees, reviews and challenges senior management and recommends to the Board for its approval policies related to the financial management of the Company and its subsidiaries and oversees the Company’s implementation of such policies, including policies relating to capital, funding, liquidity and funds transfer risk, asset and liability management and cash management, and policies fundingfor assessing and liquidity requirements, capital structure and financing, regulatory capital and ratios, dividend policy;managing exposure of the Company’s risk governance framework; the Company’s policies and procedures for managing operational risk, credit risk, market risk, interest rate risk, investment risk, liquidity risk, reputational risk, strategic risk, legal regulatory & compliance risk, including the framework for counterparty credit risk management and liquidity risk;trading limits, and reviews the Company’s policies governing mergersbusiness continuity plan, strategic plan, strategic transactions, and acquisitions, principal investments and dispositions of assets. proposed investments.

The Compensation Committee assists the Board in evaluating risks arising from Company executive and non-executive compensation programs as well as succession planning for our executive officers. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee assists the Board in overseeing risks associated with boardBoard organization, membership and structure, succession planning for our directors, and corporate governance. The Audit Committee assists the Board in overseeing risks associated with financial reporting and internal controls and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.controls.

14

Director Independence

The Board has adopted categorical standards to assist in its evaluation of the independence of directors. The categorical standards describe various types of relationships that could exist between a Board member and the Company and setsset thresholds at which such relationships would be deemed to be material in the determination of a director’s independence. Although any director who meets the independence criteria of NASDAQ and the Board’s own categorical standards (as well as Exchange Act Rule 10A-3(b) of the Exchange Act, in the case of Audit Committee members, and NASDAQ Rule 5605(d)(2), in the case of Compensation Committee members) will be presumed to be independent, the Board may make a decision to the contrary based on its review of any other relevant factors. The Board’s categorical standards are as follows:

1.

2.

3.

4.

12

After a review of all relevant factors and applying these categorical standards and the independence criteria of NASDAQ, the Board has determined that:that during 2014:

In determining that Mr. Velli was independent, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee considered a contract for clearing and transfer agent services entered into in 2010 between a subsidiary of the Company and a subsidiary of ConvergEx where Mr. Velli is the CEO. The subsidiary of the Company conducted a competitive process, without any involvement by Mr. Velli and ultimately chose ConvergEx to provide the services because the terms and price were substantially better than those offered by other providers. These payments to ConvergEx during 2011 represented less than 2% of ConvergEx’s consolidated revenues for the year.

In determining that Mr. Griffin was independent, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee considered Mr. Griffin’s affiliation with Citadel, the Company’s largest shareholder, and the fact that entities controlled by Citadel pay the Company for order flow pursuant to at will arrangements at negotiated rates that are subject to change at any time. During 2011, these payments represented approximately 1% of the Company’s consolidated total net revenue for the year.

The Board has also determined that each member of the Company’s Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Governance Committee and Nominating and Corporate GovernanceRisk Oversight Committee is independent.

15

Identifying and Evaluating Director Nominees

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee uses various methods to identify director nominees. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee regularly assesses the appropriate size and composition of the Board and the particular needs of the Board, considering skill sets required and whether any vacancies are expected due to retirement or otherwise. Candidates may come to the attention of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee through current Board members, professional search firms, stockholders or other parties. While there is no diversity policy or fixed set of qualifications that must be satisfied before a candidate will be considered, we seek nominees with a broad diversity of experience, professions, skills, geographic representation and backgrounds. All candidates are then evaluated based on a review of the individual’s qualifications, skills, independence and expertise, including the criteria included in our Corporate Governance Guidelines and the Board’s desire to draw on diverse perspectives and expertise in conducting its work.

Under our Bylaws, there shall be no fewer than six and no more than twelve directors concurrently serving on the Board. The Board will reduce its size to eleven directors upon the election of directors at the Annual Meeting. Our Bylaws permit the Board to increase or decrease its size within the authorized range and to add new directors between stockholder meetings. Any director appointed by the Board in accordance with the preceding sentence shall hold office for a term expiring at the next Annual Meeting.

NominationsSubmission of Director Nominees to the Governance Committee by Stockholders

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider director candidates submitted by any stockholder who has continuously held at least 5% of our voting securities (either directly or as part of a group) for at least one year and is not a competitor of the Company. Such recommendations must be mailed to:to E*TRADE Financial Corporation, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10020-1302, Attention: Corporate Secretary. Such recommendations should be accompanied by (i) evidence of the stockholder’s stock ownership over the previous twelve months,months; (ii) a statement that the stockholder is not a competitor of the Company,Company; (iii) a resume and contact information for the director candidate, as well as a description of the candidate’s qualifications,qualifications; and (iv) a statement whether the candidate has expressed interest in serving as a director. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee follows the same process and uses the same criteria for evaluating candidates proposed by stockholders as it does for candidates proposed by other parties. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider such candidacy and will advise the recommending stockholder of its final decision. Any stockholder nominee for the Board, at the request of the Board, must submit a statement that, if elected, the nominee intends to comply with the Company’s majority voting policy, described below.

13

Board Leadership

The Board believes that separating the functions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) generally strengthens the Board’s independence from management. During 2014, Mr. Druskin was our non-executive Chairman of the Board until he resigned in May 2011. For an interim period, Mr. FreibergLawson served as Chairman of the Board. In January 2012, Mr. Petrilli was named non-executiveCompany’s Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. We believe this structure is appropriate at this time andfor the Company because it strengthens the Board’s independence from management.

Majority Voting Standard and Director Resignation Policy

In May 2008, our Board amended ourOur Bylaws and revised our Corporate Governance Guidelines to changeprovide that the voting standard for the election of directors in uncontested elections from a plurality tois a majority voting standard. Under our majority voting policy,standard, in an uncontested election, each nominee shall be elected to the Board by the majority of the votes cast with respect to the director’s election (that is, the number of votes “for” a director’s election must exceed 50% of the votes cast with respect to that director’s election). Directors will continue to be elected by plurality vote in contested elections (that is, when the number of nominees for election exceeds the number of directors to be elected). Whether an election is contested or not is determined on the last day by which stockholders may submit notice to nominate a person for election as a director pursuant to the Company’s Charter.Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.

If a nominee who is serving as a director is not elected by a majority of the votes cast at the annual meeting,Annual Meeting, Delaware law provides that the director would continue to serve on the Board as a “holdover director.” However, under our Bylaws and Corporate Governance Guidelines, each director must submit in advance an irrevocable, contingent resignation to the Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee that the Board may accept if the director fails

16

to be elected by the majority of the votes cast with respect to the director’s election. In that situation, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will act on an expedited basis to determine whether to accept the director’s resignation, and submit its recommendation to the Board. The Board will act on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee’s recommendation and publicly disclose its decision and the rationale behind its decision within 90 days following certification of the stockholder vote. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, in making its recommendation, and the Board, in making its decision, may each consider any factors or other information that it considers appropriate and relevant.

The Board expects that any director whose resignation becomes effective pursuant to this policy will excuse himself or herself from participating in the consideration of his or her resignation by either the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee or the Board. If an incumbent director’s resignation is not accepted, he or she will continue to serve until the next annual meetingAnnual Meeting and until his or her successor is duly elected, or until his or her earlier resignation or removal. In 2011, allAll nominees currently serve on the Board.

1714

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

Cash Compensation.TheIntroduction

Our Director Compensation policy for cash fees forprogram reflects our desire to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified individuals who have the skills, experience and expertise necessary to serve on the board of directors of a company of our size and regulatory complexity and who can continue to guide the Company to provide long-term value to its stockholders. Accordingly, our Director Compensation program is designed to provide our non-employee directors in 2011 waswith a mix of cash and long-term equity compensation that both fairly compensates them for the services they provide to us as follows:

All non-employee directors receive reimbursementand aligns their interests with the long-term interests of our stockholders.

Annual Review of Director Compensation Program in 2014

The Governance Committee reviews the structure and philosophy of our Director Compensation program on an annual basis. In the second quarter of 2014, the Governance Committee, with the advice of its independent compensation consultant, analyzed the overall level and mix of compensation delivered by our Director Compensation program as compared to the Company’s peer group.

As a result of this review, the Governance Committee approved increases effective as of May 6, 2014 to the annual equity retainers paid to all non-employee directors, including our Non-Executive Chairman. The annual equity retainer for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with meetingsour Non-Executive Chairman was increased by $100,000 to $150,000 and the annual equity retainers for our other non-employee directors were increased by $50,000 to $100,000.

In addition, the Governance Committee, as part of its 2014 annual review of the Board and its committees. Non-employee directors do not participate in any other benefit plan (including pension or deferred compensation plan) or receive perquisites.

Equity Compensation.In 2011, each non-employee director, other than Mr. Griffin, receivedCompany’s Director Compensation program, approved the following grantimplementation of a Director Compensation Deferral Program (the “Deferral Program”). Under the terms of the Deferral Program, non-employee directors may elect, on an annual basis, to defer all or a portion of their cash and equity compensation for service on the Board and/or its committees into deferred restricted stock award onunits (“DSUs”) issued under the dateCompany’s 2005 Equity Incentive Plan. Grants of our annual meeting:

The NominatingExpense Reimbursement and Corporate Governance Committee changed the Equity Compensation policy for directors if Proposal 1 is approved by the stockholders such that if Proposal 1 is approved, then following this Annual Meeting, each restricted stock award granted will vest in one year, subject to immediate vesting upon (i) certain changes in the ownership or control of the Company or (ii) the death of the director while serving as a Board member.Perquisites

Generally,All non-employee directors receive initial grants when they joinreimbursement for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with meetings of the Board and then annual grants atits committees. Non-employee directors do not receive perquisites, but are eligible to participate in the time of the annual meeting. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee regularly reviews our non-employee director compensation policy.

18

20112014 Director Compensation Table

The table below does not include Mr. Idzik, who did not receive separate compensation for his service on the Board.

16

Policy of Equity Ownership for Board of Directors

The Board believes that directors should hold meaningful equity ownership positions in the Company to help align the interests of directors with those of stockholders. Under our policy regarding equity ownership for directors, non-employee directors, directors are expected to be beneficial owners of shares of the Common Stock with a market value equivalent to at least two years’ annual retainer fees due to non-employee directors (not including any additional retainer for service as a Committee Chair or Non-Executive Chairman)Chairman and as adjusted from time to time) within two years of joining the Board. Until a non-employee director has met this equity ownership guideline, directors arehe or she is expected to hold any stock acquired bythrough exercise of a stock option or vesting of restricted stock, net of shares sold to cover the cost of acquisition and any tax obligation. EachDuring 2014, each of the Company’s non-employee directors iswas in compliance with this policy. The Company does not permit directors to pledge or engage in hedging transactions involving Company stock.

17

PROPOSAL 2

APPROVAL OF THE ADOPTION OF THE

E*TRADE FINANCIAL CORPORATION 2015 OMNIBUS INCENTIVE PLAN

At the policy.Annual Meeting, stockholders will be asked to approve the E*TRADE Financial Corporation 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”). The Compensation Committee approved the 2015 Plan on January 26, 2015, subject to its approval by stockholders. The 2015 Plan is intended to replace our 2005 Equity Incentive Plan, which is scheduled to expire on May 26, 2015 (the “Prior Plan”). If the stockholders approve the 2015 Plan, it will become effective on the day of the 2015 Annual Meeting (the “Effective Date”), and no further awards will thereafter be granted under the Prior Plan.

Introduction

We operate in a challenging marketplace in which our success depends to a great extent on our ability to attract and retain executives, employees and non-employee directors with the skills and experience necessary to operate our business in an efficient and effective manner. We strongly believe that a competitive compensation package which includes equity and equity-based awards is a critical component in attracting and retaining these individuals, and will also provide them with a long-term incentive to maximize value for our stockholders and contribute to our ongoing growth. The approval of the 2015 Plan by our stockholders will provide us with a vehicle by which we can make a wide variety of equity and equity-based awards, along with cash incentives, and will therefore help to ensure our ongoing ability to attract and retain key talent.

If our stockholders approve the 2015 Plan, approximately 12,295,917 common shares, which includes the 6,295,917 common shares that remain available for issuance under the Prior Plan and are not subject to outstanding awards as of the Record Date, will be available for grants of equity and equity-based awards under the 2015 Plan. In addition, any shares in respect of awards granted under the Prior Plan that are terminated or cancelled without being exercised or settled or that are acquired as a result of forfeiture or repurchase after the Effective Date will be available for issuance under the 2015 Plan.

In determining the number of shares of Common Stock to be reserved for issuance under the 2015 Plan, our management and the Compensation Committee, in consultation with Pay Governance LLC (the Compensation Committee’s independent compensation consultant) evaluated, among other things, the historic share usage and burn rate under the Prior Plan, the overhang under the Prior Plan and the existing terms of outstanding awards under the Prior Plan. For additional information on our annual share usage and burn rate, see the subsection entitled “Historical Annual Share Usage” below. We currently anticipate that the shares of Common Stock to be reserved for issuance under the 2015 Plan will allow us to continue making equity grants for four to six years.

Reasons for Adoption of the 2015 Plan

The Prior Plan, which is the only plan pursuant to which we make equity and equity-based awards to our executives, employees and non-employee directors, will expire by its terms on May 26, 2015, and we may not make any more grants under the Prior Plan after that date. We do not intend to grant any further awards under the Prior Plan after the Effective Date. Accordingly, we have adopted and are seeking stockholder approval of the 2015 Plan to provide a vehicle by which we can use equity and equity-based awards to continue to attract, retain, motivate and appropriately incentivize key talent who can effectively manage our business and provide long-term value to our stockholders.

If the 2015 Plan is not approved by our stockholders, we will no longer have a stockholder-approved plan by which we can make grants of equity and equity-based awards as of May 26, 2015. Accordingly, the failure to attain stockholder approval of the 2015 Plan will put us at a significant disadvantage relative to the companies with which we compete for key talent and could ultimately result in our failure to attract and retain high caliber talent who can achieve our business objectives.

18

In addition, we are seeking approval of the 2015 Plan in order to, among other things: (1) comply with NASDAQ rules requiring stockholder approval of equity compensation plans; (2) allow the grant of incentive stock options (ISOs) to our employees; and (3) provide the Compensation Committee with the ability to grant both stock awards and cash bonuses that are intended to qualify as “performance-based compensation” under Section 162(m) of the Code.

Historical Annual Share Usage

While the use of equity is an important part of our compensation program, we are particularly mindful of our responsibility to our stockholders to exercise judgment in the granting of equity and equity-based awards. As a result, we evaluated both our “overhang percentage” and annual share usage, or “burn rate,” in considering the advisability of the 2015 Plan and its potential impact on our stockholders.

Although our future annual share usage will depend upon and be influenced by a number of factors, such as the number of plan participants, the price per share of our Common Stock and the methodology used to establish the equity award mix, the shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance under the 2015 Plan will enable us to continue to utilize equity awards as an important component of our compensation program and help meet our objectives to attract, retain, motivate and appropriately incentivize executives, employees and non-employee directors with the skills and experience necessary to operate our business effectively. The calculation of the share reserve took into account, among other things, our stock price and volatility, our share burn rate and overhang and the existing terms of our outstanding awards.

Highlights of the 2015 Plan

On March 12, 2015, the Board, upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee, unanimously approved the 2015 Plan, subject to stockholder approval.

The 2015 Plan is intended to advance the interests of the Company and its stockholders by providing an incentive to attract, retain and reward persons performing services for the Company and its affiliates and by motivating those persons to contribute to the growth and profitability of the Company and its affiliates.

The 2015 Plan is intended to permit the grant of performance-based compensation within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, which generally limits the annual deduction that we may take for compensation of our covered officers, which consist of our CEO and three other most highly compensated executive officers (other than our CFO) who are serving as such at the end of the year. Under Section 162(m), certain compensation, including compensation based on the attainment of performance goals, will not be subject to this limitation if certain requirements are met. Among these requirements is a requirement that the material

19

terms pursuant to which the performance-based compensation is to be paid be disclosed to and approved by our stockholders. Accordingly, if the 2015 Plan is approved by stockholders and the other conditions of Section 162(m) relating to performance-based compensation are satisfied, qualified performance-based compensation paid to covered officers pursuant to the 2015 Plan will not fail to be deductible due to the operation of Section 162(m).

Additional considerations which demonstrate our commitment to governance best practices and which are relevant to the adoption of the 2015 Plan are highlighted below:

The 2015 Plan is attached as Appendix A to this proxy statement and the following description of the material terms of the 2015 Plan is qualified in its entirety by the complete text of the plan.

Description of the 2015 Plan

Types of Awards. The following types of awards may be granted under the 2015 Plan: stock options (including both incentive stock options (“ISOs”) within the meaning of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code and nonqualified options (“NQSOs”), which are options that do not qualify as ISOs), stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units (including performance units), cash awards, and other stock-based awards that are denominated in or otherwise relate to our Common Stock.

Shares Available. The number of shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance under the 2015 Plan will be equal to the sum of (1) 6,000,000 common shares, (2) the number of common shares remaining available for issuance under the Prior Plan that are not subject to outstanding awards as of the Effective Date and (3) any shares underlying awards granted under the Prior Plan that are terminated or cancelled without being exercised or settled or that are acquired as a result of forfeiture or repurchase after the Effective Date.

Shares of Common Stock subject to an award under the 2015 Plan that either remain unissued upon the expiration, termination or cancellation of the award, or that are forfeited or repurchased by the Company for an amount not greater than the purchase price paid by the recipient, will again become available for award under the 2015 Plan. However, shares of Common Stock that are withheld or reacquired by the Company in satisfaction of tax withholding obligations will not again be available for issuance under the 2015 Plan, and upon the payment in shares of Common Stock pursuant to the exercise of an option or stock appreciation right, the number of shares of Common Stock available for issuance under the 2015 Plan will be reduced by the gross number of shares for which the option or stock appreciation right was exercised. Shares of Common Stock will not be deemed to have been issued under the 2015 Plan with respect to the portion of any award that is settled in cash.

Certain Limitations. Under the 2015 Plan, in any fiscal year, no employee may be granted (1) options or freestanding stock appreciation rights for more than 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock in the aggregate, (2) restricted stock awards or restricted stock units, the grant or vesting of which is subject to the achievement of

20

performance goals, for more than 500,000 shares of Common Stock in the aggregate, (3) other stock-based awards, the grant or vesting of which is subject to the achievement of performance goals, that could result in the employee receiving more than 500,000 shares or (4) cash-based awards, the grant or vesting of which is subject to the achievement of performance goals, which could result in the employee receiving more than $8,000,000.

In addition, the 2015 Plan provides that the fair market value of the shares of Common Stock subject to full value awards issued to a non-employee director in any fiscal year, together with the value of any other awards granted to the non-employee director under the 2015 Plan in that fiscal year, shall not exceed $500,000.

Administration. It is expected that the 2015 Plan will be administered by the Compensation Committee, although the Board may in its discretion instead appoint the Governance Committee or another committee of directors to administer the 2015 Plan or may determine to administer the 2015 Plan itself (the Board or committee referred to above being sometimes referred to as the “plan administrator”). Each member of the Compensation Committee is a “non-employee director” (within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 promulgated under Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), an “outside director” (within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code) and an “independent director” (within the meaning of the NASDAQ listed company manual).

All questions of interpretation of the 2015 Plan or any award granted under the 2015 Plan will be determined by the plan administrator and those determinations will be final and binding on all persons having an interest in the 2015 Plan or in any such award. The plan administrator will have full and final discretionary power and authority to, among other things, (1) determine the persons who will receive awards and the terms and conditions of those awards, (2) correct any defect, supply any omission or reconcile any inconsistency in the 2015 Plan or any award agreement and (3) make all other determinations and take all other actions with respect to the 2015 Plan or any award granted thereunder as it may deem advisable to the extent not inconsistent with the provisions of the 2015 Plan or any award granted thereunder. However, the plan administrator will not have the right to reprice or cancel and regrant any award at a lower exercise price or cancel any award with an exercise price in exchange for cash, property or other awards without first obtaining the approval of our stockholders.

Eligibility. Awards under the 2015 Plan will be granted at the sole discretion of the plan administrator, and may be granted to (1) employees of the Company or its parents, subsidiaries and affiliates, (2) individuals who are engaged to provide consulting or advisory services to the Company or its parents, subsidiaries and affiliates and (3) non-employee members of the Board.

Vesting and Exercisability. Awards will become exercisable or otherwise vest at the times and upon the conditions that the plan administrator may determine. In general, any award granted under the 2015 Plan will be subject to a vesting period or performance period, as applicable, of at least one year following the date of grant, although awards representing a maximum of five percent of the shares of Common Stock initially reserved for issuance under the 2015 Plan may be granted without regard to that one year period.

Performance Goals.The vesting, settlement or exercise of any award granted under the 2015 Plan may be subject to the achievement of performance criteria determined by the plan administrator. The performance criteria for any awards that are intended to qualify as performance-based compensation for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code will be based upon one or more of the following performance measures: (1) revenue; (2) sales; (3) expenses; (4) operating income; (5) gross margin; (6) operating margin; (7) earnings before any one or more of: stock-based compensation expense, interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; (8) pre-tax profit; (9) net operating income; (10) net income; (11) economic value added; (12) free cash flow; (13) operating cash flow; (14) stock price; (15) earnings per share; (16) return on stockholder equity; (17) return on capital; (18) return on assets; (19) return on investment; (20) employee satisfaction; (21) employee retention; (22) balance of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities; (23) market share; (24) daily average revenue trades; (25) asset gathering metrics; (26) number of customers; (27) customer satisfaction; (28) product development; (29) completion of a joint venture or other corporate transaction; (30) completion of identified

21

special project(s); (31) overall effectiveness of management; or (32) any combination of the foregoing. In addition, to the extent permitted under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, the plan administrator may provide that one or more objectively determinable adjustments shall be made to the performance measures, which may include adjustments that would cause the measures to be considered “non-GAAP financial measures” under rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The performance targets that are set by the plan administrator may be expressed in terms of attaining a specified level of the performance measure or the attainment of a percentage increase or decrease in the particular performance measure, and may be applied to one or more of the Company, a subsidiary, or a division or strategic business unit of the Company or a subsidiary, or may be applied to the performance of the Company or a subsidiary relative to a market index, a group of other companies or a combination thereof, all as determined by the plan administrator. The performance targets may be subject to a threshold level of performance below which no payment will be made (or no vesting will occur), levels of performance at which specified payments will be made (or specified vesting will occur), and a maximum level of performance above which no additional payment will be made (or at which full vesting will occur).

Stock Options. A stock option entitles the recipient to purchase shares of Common Stock during a specified period after expiration of a stated vesting period at a purchase price specified by the plan administrator (at a price not less than 100% of the fair market value of the Common Stock on the date of grant). The maximum term of all options granted under the 2015 Plan will be determined by the plan administrator, but may not exceed ten years. The recipient of an option may pay the option exercise price either (1) in cash or by check or cash equivalent, (2) by tender of shares of Common Stock already owned by the recipient, (3) through a broker-assisted cashless exercise or net settlement procedure, (4) by such other method approved by the plan administrator from time to time (other than by means of a promissory note) or (5) by any combination of these methods.

Stock Appreciation Rights. A stock appreciation right may be granted in connection with an option, or may be granted independently of an option. Stock appreciation rights generally permit the participant to receive cash or shares of Common Stock after expiration of a stated vesting period equal to the difference between the exercise price of the stock appreciation right (which may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of the Common Stock on the date of grant) and the fair market value of the Common Stock on the date of exercise. The maximum term of all stock appreciation rights granted under the 2015 Plan will be determined by the plan administrator, but may not exceed ten years.

Restricted Stock.A restricted share of Common Stock is an issued and outstanding share of Common Stock that is subject to vesting conditions and such other terms and conditions as the plan administrator may determine in its discretion. Except for restrictions on transfer and such other restrictions as the plan administrator may impose, recipients of restricted shares will generally have the rights of a stockholder with respect to the restricted stock.

Restricted Stock Units. A restricted stock unit award represents the right of the recipient to receive a specified number of shares of Common Stock at a future date, subject to vesting conditions and such other terms and conditions as the plan administrator may determine in its discretion. Recipients of restricted stock units will generally not have the rights of a stockholder with respect to the shares of Common Stock underlying the restricted stock units, but the plan administrator may provide a recipient with dividend equivalent payments with respect to cash dividends declared while the award is outstanding.

Cash-Based Awards and Other Stock-Based Awards. The plan administrator may grant cash-based awards or other stock-based awards in such amounts and subject to vesting conditions and such other terms and conditions as the plan administrator may determine in its discretion. Cash-based awards will specify a monetary payment or range of payments, while other stock-based awards will specify a number of shares or units based on shares or other equity-related awards. Recipients of other stock-based awards will generally not have the rights of a stockholder with respect to the shares of Common Stock underlying the award, but the plan administrator may provide the recipient with dividend equivalent payments with respect to cash dividends declared while the award is outstanding.

22

Change in Control. In the event of a change in control of the Company, the plan administrator may, in its sole discretion and without the consent of any participant, take such actions as it deems appropriate with respect to outstanding awards to provide for (1) the acceleration of vesting, exercisability or settlement effective as of the change in control or upon such conditions, including termination of the recipient’s service following the change in control, as may be determined by the plan administrator, (2) the assumption or continuation of outstanding awards by the acquiring entity, (3) the substitution of outstanding awards by the acquiring entity of substantially equivalent rights relating to the acquiring entity’s stock, (4) the cancellation of awards in exchange for payment in cash, shares or other property or (5) any other treatment as may be determined by the plan administrator prior to the consummation of the change in control. Notwithstanding the general treatment set forth in the prior sentence, all awards granted to the Company’s non-employee directors will become vested and exercisable as of the change in control of the Company.

For purposes of the 2015 Plan, a “change in control” means, in general: (1) a person or entity acquires securities of the Company representing 50% or more of its combined voting power; (2) a change in the majority membership of the Board that is not approved by Board; (3) consummation of a merger or consolidation of the Company or any subsidiary, other than a merger or consolidation that results in both the Company’s voting securities continuing to represent at least 50% of the combined voting power of the surviving entity or its parent and the individuals who comprise the Board immediately prior to the merger or consolidation continuing to constitute a majority of the Board after the transaction, or the consummation of a merger or consolidation effected to implement a recapitalization or similar transaction involving the Company in which no person or entity acquires at least 50% of the combined voting power of the Company; (4) stockholder approval of a plan of complete liquidation or dissolution of the Company; or (5) the consummation of an agreement for the sale or disposition of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, other than a sale or disposition to an entity, at least 50% of the combined voting power of which is owned by the Company’s stockholders in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of the Company immediately prior to such sale and the majority of whose board of directors immediately following the sale or disposition consists of individuals who comprise the Board immediately prior to the sale or disposition.

Equitable Adjustment. In the event of the occurrence of any change in the Common Stock effected without receipt of consideration by the Company, whether through merger, consolidation, reorganization, reincorporation, recapitalization, reclassification, stock dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, split-up, split-off, spin-off, combination of shares, exchange of shares, or similar change in the capital structure of the Company, or in the event of payment of a dividend or distribution to the stockholders of the Company in a form other than Common Stock (excepting normal cash dividends) that has a material effect on the fair market value of the Common Stock, appropriate adjustments intended to prevent dilution or enlargement of participants’ rights under the 2015 Plan shall be made in (1) the number and kind of shares or other property subject to the 2015 Plan and to any outstanding awards, (2) the maximum adjustment for unissued or forfeited shares under the Prior Plan, (3) the award limits set forth in the 2015 Plan and (4) the exercise or purchase price per share under any outstanding award.

Amendment and Termination of the Plan. The plan administrator may amend, suspend or terminate the 2015 Plan at any time, but stockholder approval will be necessary where required by applicable law or regulation. Except as expressly provided in the 2015 Plan, no amendment, suspension or termination of the 2015 Plan may adversely affect any then-outstanding award without the participant’s consent.

The 2015 Plan will terminate not later than the tenth anniversary of its effective date. However, awards granted before the termination of the 2015 Plan may extend beyond that date in accordance with their terms.

Governing Law. Except to the extent governed by federal law, the 2015 Plan is governed by the laws of the State of New York.

23

Certain Federal Income Tax Consequences

Set forth below is a discussion of certain United States federal income tax consequences with respect to certain awards that may be granted pursuant to the 2015 Plan. The following discussion is intended only as a general guide, and reference is made to the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations and interpretations issued (the “Code”) thereunder for a complete statement of all relevant federal tax consequences.

Incentive Stock Options.A participant generally recognizes no taxable income as a result of the grant or exercise of an incentive stock option (although the individual may be subject to alternative minimum tax as a result of the exercise of the option). Participants who dispose of their shares more than two years following the date the option was granted and more than one year following the exercise of the option will, upon such disposition of the shares, normally recognize capital gain or loss equal to the difference, if any, between the sale price and the purchase price of the shares. In such event, we will not be entitled to any corresponding deduction for federal income tax purposes. If the participant disposes of the shares before both of these holding periods have been satisfied (a “disqualifying disposition”), the participant will recognize ordinary income equal to the spread between the option exercise price and the fair market value of the shares on the date of exercise, but in most cases not to exceed the gain realized on the sale, if lower. Any gain in excess of that amount will be a capital gain. If a loss is recognized, there will be no ordinary income, and such loss will be a capital loss. The Company will generally be entitled to a deduction for federal income tax purposes, except to the extent such deduction is limited by applicable provisions of the Code, in an amount equal to any ordinary income recognized by the participant upon the disqualifying disposition of the shares.

Nonqualified Stock Options. A participant generally recognizes no taxable income upon receipt of a nonstatutory stock option with an exercise price equal to or greater than the fair market value of the stock as of the grant date. Upon exercising a nonstatutory stock option, the participant normally recognizes ordinary income equal to the difference between the exercise price paid and the fair market value of the shares on the date the option is exercised. If the participant is an employee, such ordinary income generally is subject to withholding of income and employment taxes. The Company will generally be entitled to a tax deduction equal to the amount of ordinary income recognized by the participant as a result of the exercise of a nonstatutory stock option, except to the extent such deduction is limited by applicable provisions of the Code. Upon the sale of stock acquired by the exercise of a nonstatutory stock option, any gain or loss, based on the difference between the sale price and the fair market value of the shares on the exercise date, will be taxed as capital gain or loss.

Stock Appreciation Rights. A Participant generally recognizes no taxable income upon the receipt of a stock appreciation right with a base price equal to or greater than the fair market value of the stock as of the grant date. Upon the exercise of a stock appreciation right, the participant generally will recognize ordinary income in an amount equal to the excess of the fair market value of the underlying shares of Common Stock on the exercise date over the exercise price. If the participant is an employee, such ordinary income generally is subject to withholding of income and employment taxes. The Company will generally be entitled to a tax deduction equal to the amount of ordinary income recognized by the participant in connection with the exercise of the stock appreciation right, except to the extent such deduction is limited by applicable provisions of the Code.

Restricted Stock Awards and Restricted Stock Units. A Participant generally recognizes no taxable income upon the grant of a restricted stock award and upon the grant or vesting of a restricted stock unit. When a restricted stock award ceases to be subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, and when cash or shares are delivered to a participant in settlement of a restricted stock unit, the participant normally will recognize ordinary income in an amount equal to the fair market value of the shares on such date and the amount of cash so paid. If the participant is an employee, such ordinary income generally is subject to withholding of income and employment taxes. The Company will generally be entitled to a tax deduction equal to the amount of ordinary income recognized by the participant, except to the extent such deduction is limited by applicable provisions of the Code.

Other Awards. In general, a participant will recognize ordinary taxable income upon the receipt of cash and the lapsing of a substantial risk of forfeiture with respect to shares delivered with respect to other awards granted

24

under the 2015 Plan and the Company will generally become entitled to a deduction at such time equal to the amount of income recognized by the participant, except to the extent such deduction is limited by applicable provisions of the Code.

New Plan Benefits

The 2015 Plan was designed by the Compensation Committee, with the assistance of Pay Governance LLC (the Compensation Committee’s independent compensation consultant), as part of a comprehensive compensation strategy to provide a long-term, broad based incentive for executives, employees and non-employee directors to contribute to our growth and achieve our key business objectives.

If approved by the stockholders, participants in the 2015 Plan will be eligible for equity and equity-based awards, which may include restricted stock, restricted stock units and stock options (and other awards permitted under the 2015 Plan). The amount and types of awards will be determined by the Compensation Committee in light of the participants’ targeted long-term incentive level and such other factors as it deems appropriate. The Compensation Committee may impose such conditions or restrictions on the vesting of awards as it deems appropriate, including, but not limited to, the achievement of performance goals based on one or more business criteria.

Awards under the 2015 Plan are made in the discretion of the plan administrator and therefore are not determinable at this time. Moreover, the ultimate value of any grants that are made will depend on the value of the underlying shares of Common Stock at the time of settlement, which likewise is not determinable at this time. Please refer to the “Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table for 2014” on page 47 for information with respect to equity and equity-based awards made to our named executive officers in 2014.

The Board of Directors recommends that stockholders vote FOR the proposal to approve the E*TRADE Financial Corporation 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan.

25

PROPOSAL 3

ADVISORY VOTE TO APPROVE COMPENSATION OF NAMED EXECUTIVE COMPENSATIONOFFICERS

We are asking that you indicate your support, in a nonbinding advisory vote, for our executivethe compensation policies and practices relating to our Named Executive Officers as described in the Company’s Compensation“Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” the accompanying compensation tables and the related narrative contained inappearing on pages 32 to 51 of this Proxy Statement.

As described in detail under the headingin “Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” we strive to weightprovide a majority of compensation for our executive compensation program toward bothNamed Executive Officers in the form of cash and equity incentives that encourage and reward strong long-term performance and align the financial interests of our executivesNamed Executive Officers with the interests of our stockholders. Although, as an advisory vote, this proposal is not binding on the Company,Board or the Compensation Committee, willthe Board and the Compensation Committee expect to carefully consider the stockholder vote on this matter.matter in making future compensation decisions. The next non-binding advisory vote to approve Named Executive Officer compensation will occur at our 2016 Annual Meeting.

Stockholders are being asked to vote on the following resolution:

“RESOLVED, that the stockholders approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the named executive officers,Named Executive Officers, as disclosed in the Company’s Proxy Statement for the 20122015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange CommissionSEC (Item 402 of Regulation S-K), including the Compensation“Compensation Discussion and Analysis,” the compensation tables and the other related disclosure.”narrative disclosures.

The Board of Directors recommends that youstockholders vote FOR the proposal to approve the compensation of the Named Executive Officers as described in this proposal.Proxy Statement.

2026

PROPOSAL 4

RATIFICATION OF SELECTION OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

The Board isWe are asking the stockholders to ratify the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2012. In the event2015. If the stockholders fail to ratify the appointment, the Audit Committee of the Board will consider it as a directionreconsider the appointment but is not obligated to select otherappoint another independent auditors for 2012.registered public accounting firm. Even if the selection is ratified, the BoardAudit Committee in its discretion may direct the appointment of a different independent auditor at any time during the year if the BoardAudit Committee determines that such a change would be in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.

A representative of Deloitte & Touche LLP is expected to attend the Annual Meeting, will be given an opportunity to make a statement at the Annual Meeting if he or she desires to do so, and will be available to respond to appropriate questions from stockholders.

Audit Fees paidPaid to Deloitte & Touche LLP

The aggregate fees billed by Deloitte & Touche LLP and their respective affiliates for professional services rendered in 20112014 and 20102013 are as follows:

All audit and non-audit services and fees were pre-approved by the Audit Committee either individually or by category. The Audit Committee has reviewed the nature of all non-audit services provided by Deloitte & Touche LLP and concluded that the provision of such services by Deloitte & Touche LLP wasare compatible with maintaining the maintenance of that firm’s independence in the conduct of its auditing functions.ability to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm.

Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures

Pursuant to its charter, the Audit Committee pre-approves all audit and permissible non-audit services provided by the independent auditors. The Audit Committee charter allows the Committee to delegate its authority to pre-approve services to one or more Committee members, provided that the designees present the pre-approvals to the full Audit Committee at its next meeting.

The Board of Directors recommends that stockholders vote FOR the proposal to ratify the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2012.2015.

2127

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY

In addition to Steven J. Freiberg,Paul T. Idzik, the Chief Executive Officer,CEO, the following are our executive officers are not directors and serve at the discretionas of the Board:March 25, 2015:

Matthew J. Audette is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company, a position he has held since January 2011. Mr. Audette joined E*TRADE in 2000, when the Company acquired Telebank, where he served as Controller in the Capital Markets department. Mr. Audette served from 2005 through 2010 as Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller.Controller for the Company. Prior to 2005, he served as Controller of E*TRADE Bank and Chief Financial Officer of E*TRADE Bank, a position he continues to hold. Mr. Audette also serves as Chief Financial Officer and as a board member of several of the Company’s other subsidiaries. He was also interim Chief Financial Officer in 2008. Since October 2011, he has served on the Board of Directors of Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. HeMr. Audette began his career in public accounting at KPMG and holds a Bachelor of ScienceB.S. in accountingAccounting from Virginia Tech.

Michael J. CurcioE. Foley is the Executive Vice President of the Company and President of E*TRADE Securities LLC, a position he has held since 2005. Mr. Curcio joined the Company in 2002. Mr. Curcio is responsible for the strategic direction, customer relationships and ongoing management of our core domestic retail franchise including our investing, trading and banking solutions. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Curcio was employed at TD Waterhouse, where he last served as Executive Vice President, Customer Relationship Management. He is former vice chairman of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange board of governors. He serves on the board of directors of the Jazz Foundation of America and on the board for Operation Hope. Mr. Curcio also serves as a director and Chief Executive Officer of E*TRADE Capital Management, LLC and as an officer and a board member of several of the Company’s other subsidiaries. Mr. Curcio holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

Greg Framke is the Executive Vice President and Chief OperatingAdministrative Officer of the Company, a position he has held since July 2011,June 2013, having joined the Company in February 2013. Mr. Foley oversees the Company’s technology infrastructure, operations, human resources, facilities management and formerly heldprocurement functions. Mr. Foley has an extensive background in project management, making him well-suited to oversee a wide range of programs critical to the positionsuccessful execution of Chief Information and Operations Officer from 2005 to July 2011. Mr. Framke is responsible for the management of all global technology development and infrastructure, as well as our global clearing and operations. Mr. Framke has been recognized as one of InfoWorld’s 25 Most Influential CTOs and as a ComputerWorld Honors Program Laureate.Company’s strategic imperatives. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. FramkeFoley worked as a consultant at Foley & Cunningham from April 2009 to February 2013. Mr. Foley also held several roles at Barclays Bank PLC from January 2005 to April 2009, including Interim Chief Information Officer and Chief Administrative Officer, where he was Directorresponsible for several global functions supporting 170,000 employees across 60 countries. Mr. Foley began his career at Booz & Company, where he helped clients develop strategies and Global Equity Technology Chief Operating Officer for Deutsche Bank Securities, as well as an Executive Directorplans to address technology and operational issues over his 16 year career. Mr. Foley studied at Morgan Stanley & CoHatfield Polytechnic, in New York City and London. Mr. Framke is on the board of icouldbe.org and is also a director of E*TRADE Clearing LLC. Mr. Framke holds a B.A. in International Finance, graduating with honors from The George Washington University.Hertfordshire, England.

Nicholas UttonNavtej S. Nandra is the Executive Vice President Chief Marketing Officer of the Company, a position he has held since 2004.May 2013. Mr. UttonNandra is responsible for overseeing management of the Company’s core businesses. Mr. Nandra joined the Company from Morgan Stanley where he was Head of International for Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Chief Strategy Officer for Real Estate Investing and Merchant Banking from June 2010 to April 2013. In addition, he served on the Boards of Directors of Morgan Stanley Huaxin Fund Management Company, Morgan Stanley International Ltd. and Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Nandra served on the Boards of Directors of Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd. and Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Co. Ltd., and as Senior Advisor to DTZ Holdings plc. Before that he held various positions at Merrill Lynch, including Head of Diversified Financial Services from 2008 through 2009, Chief Operating Officer of Global Wealth Management from 2007 through 2009, and Chief Operating Officer of Global Investment Banking and Head of Strategy for Global Markets and Investment Banking from 2004 through 2007. Mr. Nandra serves on the boards of directors of Edelweiss Financial Services, Ltd. and the Center of Governance, Institutions and Organizations, at the Business School of the National University of Singapore. He has also been a guest speaker at Columbia, Vanderbilt and Yale Universities and led the groundbreaking study with the Bank Administration Institute titled “Demand Strategy: Recapturing Share in Consumer Financial Services.” Mr. Nandra holds a P.G.D.M. (M.B.A.) from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce (honors) from the University of Delhi.

28

Karl A. Roessner is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Company, a position he has held since May 2009. Mr. Roessner manages the legal, compliance and regulatory functions for the Company and its bank and brokerage subsidiaries. He also acts as Corporate Secretary to the Company’s and E*TRADE Bank’s Boards of Directors. Leveraging a depth of experience in legal matters related to highly regulated public companies, including board advisory, corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions and capital raising, Mr. Roessner is responsible for the oversight, guidance and direction of all marketing initiatives, including advertising, direct onlinelegal, compliance and offline marketing programs and branding campaigns as well as corporate communications.regulatory matters. Mr. Roessner has more than 20 years of experience practicing law. Prior to joining the Company in May 2009, Mr. Utton served as Executive Vice PresidentRoessner was a partner in the Corporate Practice group of Marketing at JP Morgan ChaseClifford Chance US LLP, one of the world’s leading law firms. There, he advised clients on negotiated public and Chief Marketing officer for MasterCard.private transactions, management and leveraged buyouts, capital raising activities and corporate governance matters. Mr. Utton holdsRoessner earned a graduate honors degreeB.S. in commerce, majoring in business economicsBusiness Administrationcum laude from Siena College and his J.D.cum laude from St. John’s University School of Law where he was a member of the St. John’s University of South Africa, Pretoria, and a bachelor’s degree in commerce, majoring in business administration and marketing from the University of Natal (South Africa).Law Review.

2229

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of the Common Stock as of March 12, 2012,13, 2015, by (i) each director; (ii) each executive officer listed in the Summary Compensation Table;NEO; (iii) all current directors and executive officers as a group; and (iv) each person who is known to the Company to beneficially own more than 5% of the outstanding shares of the Common Stock of the Company. All Shares are subjectUnless otherwise indicated, all persons named as beneficial owners of the Common Stock have sole voting power and sole investment power with respect to the shares indicated as owned. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, the address for each person named person’s sole voting and investment power except where otherwise indicated.below is c/o E*TRADE Financial Corporation, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10020-1302.

30

23

31

COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

Introduction

The following Compensation Discussion and Analysis

Our Compensation Philosophy: Compensation Considerations for 2011

Our Compensation Committee strives to establish provides a description of our compensation program for our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and our three other most highly compensated executive officers who were serving as of December 31, 2014. We refer to these individuals throughout the Compensation Discussion and Analysis and the tables and narratives that follow as our named executive officers, or NEOs. For 2014, our named executive officers were as follows:

Executive Compensation Highlights

32

Our Executive Compensation Philosophy

Our compensation program for our NEOs is designed to attract, motivate and retain highly qualified individuals and establish a strong link between their pay and the achievement of our business goals. We seek to accomplish these objectives by maintaining a program heavily weighted toward incentives for sustainable long-term performance. In particular, we do this by allocatingperformance that allocates a significant percentage of annual compensation opportunities for our NEOs toward:

In 2011, we held our first stockholder advisory vote to approve the compensationNEOs with those of our named executive officers, commonly referredstockholders and ensure that a significant portion of each NEO’s compensation is tied to as a say-on-pay vote. Over 98%our long-term stock performance.

33

Key Compensation Practices and Governance

Our 2014 compensation program for our NEOs contains the following notable good corporate governance features:

Compensation Considerations for 2014

At our 2014 Annual Meeting of stockholderStockholders, stockholders supported our “say-on-pay vote,” with 95% of the votes cast (excluding abstentions and broker non-votes) were cast in favor of theour compensation ofprogram for our named executive officers.NEOs. Although this was only an advisory vote, we believe the Compensation Committee believes this overwhelming approval by our stockholders shows strong support for our compensation philosophy of placing significant weight on the types of incentives that weincentive pay. For this and other reasons described below (including our business achievements for the year as described below)year), our compensation committeethe Compensation Committee retained its general approach to determining the compensation of our executive compensationNEOs in 2014, as described in this Compensation“Compensation Discussion and Analysis.”

24

Fiscal 20112014 Business Highlights. Our core business is our trading and investing customer franchise. Building on the strengths of this franchise, our growth strategy is focusedcentered on two core objectives: accelerating the growth of our core brokerage business to improve our market share and strengthening our overall financial and franchise position, improving our market position in our retail brokerage business, acceleratingposition. Accelerating the growth of our corporate servicescore brokerage business focuses on capitalizing on secular growth within the direct brokerage industry, enhancing the digital and market making businesses, enhancing our position with long-term investors, and optimizingoffline customer experience, capitalizing on the value of our bank franchise.corporate services business, and maximizing the value of deposits through E*TRADE Bank. Strengthening our overall financial and franchise position focuses on managing down our legacy risks (including credit losses) and continuing to execute on our capital plan. Our executive compensation program has been designed to recognize and support these efforts.

In determining whetherthe appropriate compensation for our executive compensation was appropriate for 2011,NEOs in 2014, the Board and the Compensation Committee recognized our business achievements and challenges. In addition to improving our financial results during 2014, which were our strongest in eight years and included setting multiple brokerage performance records in asset and account growth, we took steps to position ourselves for growth and benefitted from an organization more focused on the core of our Company – the customer; made meaningful headway toward rationalizing our capital structure; eliminated asymmetric risk through the sales of a none-core business unit and legacy assets; and delivered on several critical capital plan initiatives, culminating in the pay down of a portion of our corporate debt with cash and key regulatory approvals. Mr. Idzik and his team of experienced executives have refocused our business, and the Board and the Compensation Committee recognized the following areasachievements in particular:

34

Process for Determining Executive Compensation

Compensation Committee. As previously described, above, all members of the Compensation Committee are independent.were independent in 2014. The Compensation Committee is responsible for establishing and administering compensation programs for our senior executives, including programs for the Named Executive Officers (also called our NEOs) listed in the Summary Compensation Table below.NEOs. The Compensation Committee reviews and approves executiveNEO compensation or, with respect to the CEO’s compensation, recommends his compensation to the independent members of the full Board for approval or ratification.

Compensation Consultants. The Compensation Committee has full authority to retain any consultant(s)consultants it deems appropriate and for 2011appropriate. In 2014, the Compensation Committee retained Johnson Associates and Pay Governance LLC as its outside compensation consultantconsultants to advise the Compensation Committee on matters including

35

executive compensation practices and market compensation levels. Representatives from Johnson Associates attendand Pay Governance LLC attended meetings of the Compensation Committee. No services were provided by Johnson Associates or Pay Governance to the Company outside of its engagement with the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee considered all relevant factors in determining the independence of each of Johnson Associates and Pay Governance, including those set forth in Rule 10C-1(b)(4)(i) through (vi) under the Exchange Act, and determined no conflicts of interest existed with respect to either compensation consultant.

Role of Management. The Compensation Committee works with management, led by the CEO, in an effort to ensure that executiveour NEO compensation programs will be as effective as possible toeffectively meet the Compensation Committee’s objectives of retaining and motivating executive officershighly qualified individuals with the skills and experience necessary to achieve our key business objectives and rewarding desired performance.performance and achievement of goals. In particular, the Compensation Committee considers the CEO’s review of the performance of other executive officers, given his daily experience with them and his particular knowledge of their roles. However, the Compensation Committee ultimately makes its own determinations regarding form and amount of any executive’seach NEOs compensation and may accept or reject any recommendation from its consultants and management. In addition, the CEO is not present when the Compensation Committee or independent members of the full Board determine the CEO’s compensation.

25

Comparative Data. To determine whether our compensation programs are competitive, the Compensation Committee considered publicly available data provided by Johnson AssociatesPay Governance LLC concerning programs and compensation levels offered by other companies in relevant markets. In particular, the Compensation Committee reviewed compensation data for the companies listed below, although it did not target a specific percentile for comparing compensation. Instead, it used this information as a reference point when considering whether compensation was appropriate and competitive.

36

Overview of 2014 Named Executive Officer Compensation

The following chart provides a brief overview of the elements and objectives of our compensation program for our NEOs:

37

Overview of 2011 Executive Compensation

Total Compensation. Each NEO has aThe total target compensation which consistsfor 2014, including each element of a combination of:compensation, and individual changes in particular elements from 2013, are described below.

The Compensation Committee intends that cash incentives will reward annual financial and operating objectives, while non-cash compensation is intended to reward longer term performance through vesting requirements and ties to our stock price over time. For our existing NEOs, target cash and equity values were not increased for 2011 because the Committee believed it was more appropriate to concentrate on rewarding actual performance at year-end. The target cash and equity values for Mr. Audette became effective when he was appointed as CFO in January 2011 and were determined based on the factors described below under “New CFO Compensation”. At least once a year, the Compensation Committee reviews “tally sheets” for each of the NEOs,NEOs. These tally sheets are prepared by the Compensation Committee’s independent compensation consultant and quantify the elements of each NEO’s total compensation, including potential total annual compensation at different performance levels and the value of outstanding equity awards. The Compensation Committee did not recommend specific changes for NEOs’ fiscal 20112014 compensation in response to this particular review, although it uses the tally sheet information as one data point when considering executive compensation matters.

The differences in pay among executive officersNEOs is a result of the Compensation Committee’s review of the individual’seach NEO’s position and level of authority within the Company, experience, unique skill sets, thesignificant achievements, competitive level of total compensation as compared with the market,internal and external peers and/or individual negotiations in connection with hiringaccepting employment with the executive.Company. For example, our CEO’s and our President’s total compensation iswere each significantly higher than thatthose of our other executive officers because the CEO overseesand the President oversee all of our business units and functions. Mr. Curcio’s incentive compensation target amounts for 2011 werefunctions as well as the highest among the other NEOs because he is in chargeimplementation of our trading and investingoverall business which represents our core business and strategic focus.strategy. The Compensation Committee also considers compensation of our NEOs in light of changes in roles and responsibilities. For example, in July 2011, Mr. Framke was given the additional responsibilityThe Committee does not place a specific weight or emphasis on any of growing our Platform Services business, so his compensation has increased for 2012.these factors.

CEO Compensation. In connection with Mr. Freiberg’s appointment as CEO on April 1, 2010, based upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee, the independent members of the Board approved an employment agreement with Mr. Freiberg, pursuant to which he receives an annual base salary of $1,000,000 and

26

is eligible for an annual cash performance bonus with a target of $3,000,000 and for annual equity incentives with a target initial value of $3,000,000 (with the actual amount based on the performance of the Company) and subject to vesting over four years following the grant. The Compensation Committee believed that the CEO’s compensation should be heavily weighted toward incentive compensation. In determining the amounts of the CEO’s compensation, the Compensation Committee considered a variety of factors, including data from the companies listed above (but it did not target a specific level within the market data), discussions with Johnson Associates as to market practice, and the Compensation Committee’s collective judgment about levels needed to attract and incentivize the type of talented individual needed for the position. His salary and target awards have not changed since this initial negotiation because the Compensation Committee believes these amounts continue to offer appropriate incentive to Mr. Freiberg.

Compensation for New CFO.In connection with Mr. Audette’s appointment as the Company’s CFO as of January 1, 2011, the Compensation Committee approved an employment agreement with Mr. Audette, pursuant to which he received an annual base salary of $500,000 and is eligible for an annual cash performance bonus with a target of $600,000 and for annual equity incentives with a target value of $500,000 (with the actual amount based on the performance of the Company) and subject to vesting over four years following the grant. In determining the amounts of his compensation, the Compensation Committee primarily considered its discussion with Johnson Associates as to market practice (but did not target a specific level within available market data) and the Compensation Committee’s collective judgment about levels needed to incentivize the individual for the position. For 2011 only, Mr. Audette received a relocation bonus and the Company reimbursed Mr. Audette for expenses incurred in connection with his relocation to our corporate headquarters.

20112014 Performance Metrics. Our strategy for 2011 continued to be2014 was to maintain the strength of our operating business while managing risks, particularly those arising from the balance sheet management segment. Accordingly, our incentive compensation program focused on these areas, but included a significant element associated with strategic and qualitative performance. The determination of our bonus poolbonuses for 20112014 was based on the following criteria:

(i)Operating Performance (65%). The budget for each 2014 financial performance metric excludes the impact of plan payments, the impairment of goodwill in connection with our decision to exit our market making business, restructuring costs and certain other one-time expenses, including severance payments and executive search fees.

2738

(ii)Execution of Key Initiatives (35%).

In addition, the Compensation Committee had discretion to adjust the overall bonus amounts upward or downward by 25%. For purposes of the incentive plan, operating income is before bonus accrual and excludes certain one-time items as applicable.discussed further below.

Determination of 2014 Compensation

DeterminationCompensation of 2011 CompensationOur CEO

Mr. Idzik was hired as our CEO in January 2013 during an important transition period for our Company. Mr. Idzik receives compensation under the terms of his employment agreement, which was approved by the Compensation Committee and independent members of the Board in connection with his hiring and provides for compensation at a level viewed as reflective of his strategic importance to the Company’s leadership.

Pursuant to his employment agreement, in 2014 Mr. Idzik received an annual base salary of $1,000,000 and was eligible for an annual cash performance bonus (at target) of $3,000,000. Mr. Idzik did not receive an equity grant in February 2015 for 2014 performance. At the time the Company entered into the employment agreement with Mr. Idzik in 2013, it did not intend to grant new equity awards to Mr. Idzik during the initial term of his employment. At that time, the Compensation Committee determined that his new hire grant in 2013, which had a grant date value of $9,000,000, would provide sufficient long-term incentive to Mr. Idzik during the initial term of his employment agreement. The Compensation Committee believes that the CEO’s compensation should be heavily weighted toward incentive compensation, in the form of both annual cash bonuses based on performance and long-term equity awards, which ties his interests to those of our stockholders. In determining the amounts of the CEO’s compensation, the Compensation Committee considered a variety of factors, including data from the companies listed above (but did not target a specific level within the market data), and discussions with its compensation consultants as to market practices, but does not apply any specific weightings to the factors.

Compensation of Our Other NEOs

For our other NEOs, 2014 total compensation approved by the Compensation Committee, after consultation with our CEO, was as follows:

39

Base Salary

In 2011, Mr. Audette was appointed toFor 2014, the role of CFO with a base salary of $500,000 as described more fully above. For 2011,Compensation Committee made no significant changes were made to base salary for theour NEOs, other NEOsthan Mr. Foley, because the Compensation Committee determined that their base salaries were sufficientcompetitive and instead focusedpreferred to focus on performance-based cash compensation and long-term equity compensation when making adjustments to total compensation. The Compensation Committee increased Mr. Foley’s base salary by 22% for 2014 in recognition of his leadership of the Company’s technology infrastructure and operations functions.

Annual Cash Incentive Program

Annual Cash Incentive Awards. This cash-based element of compensation provides executivesNEOs with an incentive and a reward for achieving meaningful near-term performance objectives that we believethe Compensation Committee believes will lead to sustainable long-term performance. The Compensation Committee believes that it is important to rigorously assess achievement of our performance goals in determining whether and how much to pay in cash bonuses, but that it is important to retain a degree of flexibility given the nature of our business. AtIn 2014, the endCompensation Committee made no significant changes to the target cash bonus amounts for our NEOs, other than Mr. Roessner, because the Compensation Committee determined that these targets were competitive and in line with market compensation levels. In light of the year,fact that Mr. Roessner’s target cash bonus amount had remained unchanged over the last two years, the Compensation Committee increased Mr. Roessner’s target cash bonus amount by 25% for 2014 in recognition of the importance of the Legal and Compliance function in enhancing regulatory relationships and building out the Company’s Enterprise Risk Management Program and to better align Mr. Roessner’s target amount with his internal peer and external peer group.

Cash Awards for 2014 Performance. In early 2014, the Compensation Committee established target cash bonus awards for each of our NEOs, in the amounts set forth in the “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” table, for which the actual payout amounts would depend on the Compensation Committee’s review of our 2014 performance against the pre-established performance criteria described below. In early 2015, after reviewing both our financial and strategic performance, the Compensation Committee first approved a total bonus pool based on the factors described below and then assesseddetermined appropriate individual payments. In determining that the total bonus pool for 2014 should be 106%120% of the accrued target budget, (and the same dollar amount as the prior year’s total bonus pool), the Compensation Committee considered the following factors: (i) eachthe pro forma operating income of our financial performance metricsthe Company was nearly achieved or34% above target levels set for bonus plan purposes,budget; (ii) an emphasis on exceeding goals and well abovenot merely meeting them at the threshold levels for bonus payout;executive level; and (ii) our(iii) the Company’s execution of key initiatives and accomplishment of our various operational and strategic goals, when combined with special considerations, the regulatory environment and enhanced regulatory expectations, market developments as well asand the macro-economic environment that we believed impacted some of our financial and strategic goals, was above the target level.environment.

(i)Financial GoalsOperating Performance (65%). Results for each of the pre-established financial performance metrics for 20112014, excluding the impact of plan payments, the impairment of goodwill in connection with our decision to exit our market making business, restructuring costs and reserves forother certain one-time legal expenses, itemsincluding severance payments and executive search fees, were as follows:

40

(ii)Execution of Key Initiatives (35%). In assessing our level of achievement of this metric, the Compensation Committee reviewed accomplishments in the key areas described above as well as execution of the initiatives described under “Compensation Considerations for 2014.” In determining that our collective strategic and qualitative performance exceeded the target performance level, the Compensation Committee particularly focused on the Company’s strategy, which includes the following:

(ii)Strategic and Qualitative Performance. In assessing our achievement of this metric, after considering the following factors together with those described above under “Our Compensation Philosophy: Compensation Considerations for 2011” the Compensation Committee believed that collective performance in this important area was significantly above the target level:

28

As part of this assessment of the qualitative component of the bonus pool, the Compensation Committee also considered factors that may have reduced our performance results:

Individual Cash Bonus Payouts. Based on the above factors, the Compensation Committee established the overall bonus pool slightly aboveat 120% of target. In determining the individual NEO payments from this bonus pool, the Compensation Committee primarily considered which business segments were most successful and thetheir importance to our business plan of the strategicstrategy and successes, together with its view of leadership and effort by each individual officer. Thisofficer and each individual’s overall compensation. As further described below, this resulted in the payments set forth in the “Summary Compensation Table”. For the NEOs (other than the CEO), theof $4,250,000, $850,000, $600,000, $1,850,000 and $750,000 for each of Messrs. Idzik, Audette, Foley, Nandra and Roessner, respectively. As a result, bonus payments ranged from approximately 107%100% to 128%150% of the individual’s target. Mr. Framke receivedIn paying cash bonuses at or above target, the highest percentage of target as a result of his increased responsibilities and Mr. Curcio receivedCompensation Committee reiterated its desire to emphasize exceeding, not just meeting, goals for the next highest percentage of target as a result of our continuingyear, to encourage focus on the tradingimproving brokerage business while enhancing regulatory relations and investing business. Our CEO,to make “target” bonuses difficult to achieve at the executive level.

Given our strong business results in 2014, all bonus payouts were at or above target. However, the Compensation Committee approved slightly different allocations (as a percentage of targets) due to the particular responsibilities and roles of each individual NEO. Mr. Freiberg,Idzik received 142% of target in recognition of the Company’s strong financial results, his responsibility for all of the Company’s business units and functions and his leadership in the execution of key initiatives, including continuing the build-out of the Company’s Enterprise Risk Management function, as well as enhancing the Company’s and E*TRADE Bank’s regulatory relationships. Mr. Audette received 100% of target based on his leadership in significant efforts that have contributed to the Company’s financial results and that will enable the Company to achieve its strategic and business goals, such as deleveraging the Company’s balance sheet and paying down a substantial portion of the Company’s corporate debt. Mr. Nandra received 106% of target bonus because he was directly or indirectly in charge of a significant portion of the Compensation Committee believedCompany’s business units and functions as well as the implementation of the Company’s business strategy. Mr. Foley received 100% of target in recognition of his leadership of the Company’s technology infrastructure and operations functions. Mr. Roessner received 150% of target amount wasbecause of the importance of the Legal and Compliance function in a sufficientperiod in which the Company has been significantly enhancing regulatory relationships and appropriate amount to reward him for our overall performance.building out the Company’s Enterprise Risk Management Program.

41

Equity Compensation

Annual Long-Term Incentive Compensation.Compensation Paid in 2014. In early 2011,2014, the Compensation Committee approved equity grants for theour NEOs based on 20102013 performance, as described in detail under “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” in our 20112013 Proxy Statement. These equity grants vest annually over fourthree years following the date of grant. These award amounts are set forth in the “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” table below because they were granted in 2011, although we consider them2014; however, they were earned as part of 20102013 compensation because they related to 20102013 performance.

AlsoAnnual Long-Term Incentive Compensation Practices for 2014.The Compensation Committee determined that equity-based compensation for our NEOs with respect to 2014 should consist of RSUs granted in early 2011,2015 that are subject to achievement of performance targets set in early 2014, and which vest over an extended period of time following the grant date subject to the recipient’s continued employment with us. The Compensation Committee established a programdetermined that would result inthese RSU grants provided the optimum form of equity grants in early 2012, with the amounts dependingcompensation for our NEOs because (i) they are granted based on the Compensation Committee’s viewreview of 2011our 2014 performance, (that is, based onincluding the meaningful near-term performance criteria and results described under “Cash Incentive Program” above, but with the individual amounts ultimately determined inobjectives that the Compensation Committee’s discretion). Therefore,Committee considers in February 2012,respect of annual cash bonuses for NEOs, (ii) they align the interests of our NEOs and our stockholders because their value is directly tied to the value of our Common Stock and (iii) they provide a meaningful retention incentive because they are subject to vesting over an extended period of time subject to the NEO’s continued employment with us.

The Compensation Committee increased 2014 equity bonus targets for each of our NEOs, other than our CEO, to better align this element of compensation with each executive’s external peer group in order to ensure that we continue to provide our NEOs with a level of compensation that is consistent with that provided by the companies with which we compete for talent. The Compensation Committee increased bonus equity targets within a range from approximately 12% to 56% over the prior year’s target in recognition of the Company’s strong financial results in 2013. However, the Compensation Committee approved different increases due to the particular responsibilities and roles of each individual NEO.

In February 2015, the Compensation Committee determined long-term equity target awards for each NEO based on the Compensation Committee’s review of 2014 performance. As described above, Mr. Idzik did not receive an equity grant in February 2015. Based on the Company’s financial results and the Company’s performance under the performance criteria, the Compensation Committee approved awards of RSUs to our NEOs with grant date values ranging from 100% to 120%133% of the individual’s target. Our CEO received 100% of his target. The reasons for the differences among our other NEOs were substantially similar to the reasons for the cash bonus payment differences, as described above. The Compensation Committee granted 100% of the award in restricted stock units because it felt that the share amounts for restricted stock units would result in less dilution to stockholders than options and, given the stock market volatility, these awards offered better retentive and incentive value than options while still motivating the recipients to work to increase our stock price.

29

Because these awards were made in 2012,2015, SEC disclosure rules require that they not be reflected in the “Summary Compensation Table” or “Grants of Plan-Based Awards” table below. However, we are reportingdescribing them in this Compensation“Compensation Discussion and AnalysisAnalysis” because we consider them part of our 20112014 compensation. Each

42

We granted the following RSU awards to our NEOs on February 6, 2015. These RSUs vest in equal installments on each of the following awards was granted on February 9, 2012 and vests annually over four years:first three anniversaries of the grant date, generally subject to the NEO’s continued employment with us.