The Charles Schwab Corporation (CSC), headquartered in San Francisco, California, was incorporated in 1986 and engages, through its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the Company, and primarily located in San Francisco except as indicated), in securities brokerage, banking, and related financial services. At December 31, 2009, the Company had $1.42 trillion in client assets, 7.7 million active brokerage accounts(a) , 1.5 million corporate retirement plan participants, and 722,000 banking accounts.

Significant subsidiaries of CSC include:

• Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab), which was incorporated in 1971, is a securities broker-dealer with 304 domestic branch offices in 45 states, as well as a branch in each of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and London, U.K., and serves clients in Hong Kong through one of CSC’s subsidiaries;

• Charles Schwab Bank (Schwab Bank), which commenced operations in 2003, is a federal savings bank located in Reno, Nevada; and

• Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (CSIM) is the investment advisor for Schwab’s proprietary mutual funds, which are referred to as the Schwab Funds®.

The Company provides financial services to individuals and institutional clients through two segments – Investor Services and Institutional Services. The Investor Services segment includes the Company’s retail brokerage and banking operations. The Institutional Services segment provides custodial, trading, and support services to independent investment advisors (IAs), as well as retirement plan, equity compensation plan, and other financial services to corporations and their employees. For financial information by segment for the three years ended December 31, 2009, see “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – 21. Segment Information.”

As of December 31, 2009, the Company had full-time, part-time and temporary employees, and persons employed on a contract basis that represented the equivalent of about 12,400 full-time employees.

Acquisition and Divestiture

In July 2007, the Company sold all of the outstanding stock of U.S. Trust Corporation (USTC, and with its subsidiaries collectively referred to as U.S. Trust). U.S. Trust was a subsidiary that provided wealth management services.

In March 2007, the Company acquired The 401(k) Company, which offers retirement plan services. The acquisition enhanced the Company’s ability to meet the needs of retirement plans of all sizes. The acquisition also provided the opportunity to capture rollover accounts from individuals participating in retirement plans served by The 401(k) Company and to cross-sell the Company’s other investment and banking services to plan participants.

Business Strategy and Competitive Environment

The Company’s purpose is to help everyone be financially fit. The Company’s strategy is to meet the financial services needs of individual investors, both directly and indirectly, through its two segments. To pursue its strategy, the Company focuses on: building client loyalty; innovating in ways that benefit clients; operating in a disciplined manner; and leveraging its strengths through shared core processes and technology platforms. The Company provides clients with a compelling combination of personalized relationships, superior service, and great value, delivered through a blend of people and technology. People provide the client focus and personal touch that are essential in serving investors, while technology helps create services that are scalable and consistent. This combination helps the Company address a wide range of client needs – from tools and information for self-directed or active investors, to advice services, to retirement and equity-based incentive plans, to support services for independent IAs – while enabling each client to easily utilize some or all of these capabilities according to their unique circumstances.

The Company’s competition in serving individual investors includes a wide range of brokerage, wealth management, and asset management firms, as well as banks and trust companies. In serving these investors and competing for a growing percentage of the investable wealth in the U.S., the Company offers a multi-channel service delivery model, which includes branch, telephonic, and online capabilities. Under this model, the Company can offer personalized service at competitive prices while giving clients the choice of where, when, and how they do business with the Company. Schwab’s branches and regional telephone service centers are staffed with trained and experienced financial consultants (FCs) focused on building and sustaining client relationships. The Company offers the ability to meet client investing needs through a single ongoing point of contact, even as those needs change over time. In particular, management believes that the Company’s ability to provide those clients seeking help, guidance, or advice with an integrated, individually tailored solution – ranging from occasional consultations to an ongoing relationship with a Schwab FC or an IA – is a competitive strength compared to the more fragmented offerings of other firms.

The Company’s online and telephonic channels provide quick and efficient access to an extensive array of information, research, tools, trade execution, and administrative services, which clients can access according to their needs. For example, as clients trade more actively, they can use these channels to access highly competitive pricing, expert tools, and extensive service capabilities – including experienced, knowledgeable teams of trading specialists and integrated product offerings.

Individuals investing for retirement through 401(k) plans can take advantage of the Company’s bundled offering of multiple investment choices, education, and third-party advice. Management also believes the Company is able to compete with the wide variety of financial services firms striving to attract individual client relationships by complementing these capabilities with the extensive array of investment, banking, and lending products and services described in the following section.

In the IA arena, the Company competes with institutional custodians, traditional and discount brokers, banks, and trust companies. Management believes that its Institutional Services segment can maintain its market leadership position primarily through the efforts of its expanded sales and support teams, which are dedicated to helping IAs grow, compete, and succeed in serving their clients. In addition to focusing on superior service, Institutional Services competes by utilizing technology to provide IAs with a highly-developed, scalable platform for administering their clients’ assets easily and efficiently. Institutional Services sponsors a variety of national, regional, and local events designed to help IAs identify and implement better ways to grow and manage their practices efficiently.

Another important aspect of the Company’s ability to compete is its ongoing focus on efficiency and productivity, as lower costs give the Company greater flexibility in its approach to pricing and investing for growth. Management believes that this flexibility remains important in light of the current competitive environment, in which a number of competitors offer reduced online trading commission rates and lower expense ratios on certain classes of mutual funds. Additionally, the Company’s nationwide marketing effort is an important competitive tool because it reinforces the attributes of the Schwab® brand.

Products and Services

The Company offers a broad range of products to address individuals’ varying investment and financial needs. Examples of these product offerings include

• Brokerage – an array of asset management accounts including some with check-writing features, debit card, and billpay; individual retirement accounts; retirement plans for small to large businesses; 529 college savings accounts; separately managed accounts; designated brokerage accounts; equity incentive plan accounts; and margin loans, as well as access to fixed income securities, equity and debt offerings, and exchange traded funds;

• Banking – first mortgages, home equity lines of credit, pledged-asset loans, certificates of deposit, demand deposit accounts, checking accounts linked to brokerage accounts, savings accounts, and credit cards;

• Trust – trust custody services, personal trust reporting services, and administrative trustee services; and

• Mutual funds – third-party mutual funds through Mutual Fund Marketplace®, including no-load mutual funds through the Mutual Fund OneSource® service, proprietary mutual funds from two fund families – Schwab Funds® and Laudus Funds®, other third-party mutual funds, and mutual fund trading and clearing services to broker-dealers.

These products, and the Company’s full array of investing services, are made available through its two segments – Investor Services and Institutional Services.

Investor Services

Through the Investor Services segment, the Company provides retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors.

The Company offers research, analytic tools, performance reports, market analysis, and educational material to all clients. Clients looking for more guidance have access to online portfolio planning tools, as well as professional advice from Schwab’s portfolio consultants who can help develop an investment strategy and carry out investment and portfolio management decisions.

Schwab strives to demystify investing by educating and assisting clients in the development of investment plans. Educational tools include workshops, interactive courses, and online information about investing. Additionally, Schwab provides various internet-based research and analysis tools that are designed to help clients achieve better investment outcomes. As an example of such tools, Schwab Equity Ratings® is a quantitative model-based stock rating system that provides all clients with ratings on approximately 3,000 stocks, assigning each equity a single grade: A, B, C, D, or F. Stocks are rated based on specific factors relating to fundamentals, valuation, momentum, and risk and ranked so that the number of ‘buy consideration’ ratings – As and Bs – equals the number of ‘sell consideration’ ratings – Ds and Fs.

Clients may need specific investment recommendations, either from time to time or on an ongoing basis. The Company provides clients seeking advice with customized solutions. The Company’s approach to advice is based on long-term investment strategies and guidance on portfolio diversification and asset allocation. This approach is designed to be offered consistently across all of Schwab’s delivery channels.

Schwab Private ClientTM features a personal advice relationship with a designated FC, supported by a team of investment professionals who provide individualized service, a customized investment strategy developed in collaboration with the client, and ongoing guidance and execution.

For clients seeking a relationship in which investment decisions are fully delegated to a financial professional, the Company offers several alternatives. The Company provides investors access to professional investment management in a diversified account that is invested exclusively in either mutual funds or exchange traded funds through the Schwab Managed PortfolioTM program. The Company also refers investors who want to utilize a specific third-party money manager to direct a portion of their investment assets to the Schwab Managed Account program. In addition, clients who want the assistance of an independent professional in managing their financial affairs may be referred to IAs in the Schwab Advisor Network®. These IAs provide personalized portfolio management, financial planning, and wealth management solutions.

The Company strives to deliver information, education, technology, service, and pricing that meet the specific needs of clients who trade actively. Schwab offers integrated Web- and software-based trading platforms, which incorporate intelligent order routing technology, real-time market data, options trading, premium stock research, and multi-channel access, as well as sophisticated account and trade management features, risk management tools, decision support tools, and dedicated personal support.

The Company serves both foreign investors and non-English-speaking U.S. clients who wish to trade or invest in U.S. dollar-based securities. The Company has a physical presence in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. In the U.S., the Company serves Chinese-, Korean-, Spanish-, and Vietnamese-speaking clients through a combination of its branch offices and Web-based and telephonic services.

Institutional Services

Through the Institutional Services segment, Schwab provides custodial, trading, technology, practice management, trust asset, and other support services to IAs. To attract and serve IAs, Institutional Services has a dedicated sales force and service teams assigned to meet their needs.

IAs who custody client accounts at Schwab may use proprietary software that provides them with up-to-date client account information, as well as trading capabilities. The Institutional Services website is the core platform for IAs to conduct daily business activities online with Schwab, including submitting client account information and retrieving news and market information. This platform provides IAs with a comprehensive suite of electronic and paper-based reporting capabilities. Institutional Services offers online cashiering services, as well as internet-based eDocuments sites for both IAs and their clients that provide multi-year archiving of online statements, trade confirms and tax reports, along with document search capabilities.

To help IAs grow and manage their practices, Institutional Services offers a variety of services, including marketing and business development, business strategy and planning, and transition support. Regulatory compliance consulting and support services are available, as well as website design and development capabilities. Institutional Services maintains a website that provides interactive tools, educational content, and research reports to assist advisors thinking about establishing their own independent practices.

Institutional Services offers an array of services to help advisors establish their own independent practices through the Business Start-up Solutions package. This includes access to dedicated service teams and outsourcing of back-office operations, as well as third-party firms who provide assistance with real estate, errors and omissions insurance, and company benefits.

The Company offers a variety of educational materials and events to IAs seeking to expand their knowledge of industry issues and trends, as well as sharpen their individual expertise and practice management skills. Institutional Services updates and shares market research on an ongoing basis, and it holds a series of events and conferences every year to discuss topics of interest to IAs, including business strategies and best practices. The Company sponsors the annual IMPACT® conference, which provides a national forum for the Company, IAs, and other industry participants to gather and share information and insights.

IAs and their clients have access to a broad range of the Company’s products and services, including managed accounts and cash products.

The Institutional Services segment also provides retirement plan services, plan administrator services, stock plan services, and mutual fund clearing services, and supports the availability of Schwab proprietary mutual funds on third-party platforms. The Company serves a range of employer sponsored plans: equity compensation plans, defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans, and other investment related benefits plans.

The Company’s bundled 401(k) retirement plan product offers plan sponsors a wide array of investment options, trustee services, and participant-level recordkeeping. Plan design features, which increase plan efficiency and achieve employer goals, are also offered, such as automatic enrollment, automatic fund mapping at conversion, and automatic contribution increases. Services such as Roth 401(k) and designated brokerage accounts are also offered. The Company provides a robust suite of tools to plan sponsors to manage their plans, including plan-specific reports, studies and research, access to legislative updates and benchmarking reports that provide perspective of their plan’s features compared with overall industry and segment-specific plans. Participants in bundled 401(k) plans receive targeted education materials, have access to electronic tools and resources, may attend onsite and virtual seminars, and can receive customized advice provided by a third party.

Participants in 401(k) plans administered by Institutional Services have access to personalized advice online, by phone, or in person, including recommendations specific to the core investment fund choices in their retirement plan and specific recommended savings rates. Advice services include the automatic rebalancing of participant accounts to maintain proper asset allocations.

The Company’s equity compensation plan product offers plan sponsors full-service recordkeeping for stock plans: stock options, restricted stock, performance shares and stock appreciation rights. Specialized services for executive transactions and reporting, grant acceptance tracking and other services are offered to employers to meet the needs of administering the reporting and compliance aspects of an equity compensation plan.

Through the Plan Administrator Services unit, the Company and third-party administrators work together to serve plan sponsors, combining the consulting and administrative expertise of the administrator with the Company’s investment, technology, participant education and trustee services.

Schwab also offers its proprietary mutual funds and collective trust funds on third-party retirement platforms, allowing plan sponsors outside of the Company’s bundled platform access to the Schwab Managed Retirement Trust Fund family. These target-date retirement collective trusts have independent sub-managers and leverage both active and passive management, which offer institutional structure and pricing.

Regulation

CSC is a savings and loan holding company and Schwab Bank, CSC’s depository institution subsidiary, is a federal savings bank. CSC and Schwab Bank are both subject to supervision and regulation by the Office of Thrift Supervision. As a savings and loan holding company, CSC is not subject to specific statutory capital requirements. However, CSC is required to maintain capital that is sufficient to support the holding company and its subsidiaries’ business activities, and the risks inherent in those activities.

Schwab Bank is subject to regulation and supervision and to various requirements and restrictions under federal and state laws, including regulatory capital guidelines. Among other things, these requirements govern transactions with CSC and its non-depository institution subsidiaries, including loans and other extensions of credit, investments or asset purchases, dividends, and investments. The federal banking agencies have broad powers to enforce these regulations, including the power to terminate deposit insurance, impose substantial fines and other civil and criminal penalties, and appoint a conservator or receiver. Schwab Bank is required to maintain a capital level that at least equals minimum capital levels specified in federal banking laws and regulations. Failure to meet the minimum levels will result in certain mandatory, and possibly additional discretionary, actions by the regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on Schwab Bank.

The securities industry in the United States is subject to extensive regulation under both federal and state laws. Schwab is registered as a broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the fifty states, and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Schwab and CSIM are registered as investment advisors with the SEC. Additionally, Schwab is regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with respect to the futures and commodities trading activities it conducts as an introducing broker.

Much of the regulation of broker-dealers has been delegated to self-regulatory organizations (SROs), namely the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). Schwab is a member of the Nasdaq Stock Market and the Chicago Board Options Exchange and is consequently subject to their rules and regulations. The primary regulators of Schwab are the FINRA and, for municipal securities, the MSRB. The CFTC has designated the National Futures Association (NFA) as Schwab’s primary regulator for futures and commodities trading activities. The Company’s business is also subject to oversight by regulatory bodies in other countries in which the Company operates.

The principal purpose of regulating broker-dealers and investment advisors is the protection of clients and the securities markets. The regulations to which broker-dealers and investment advisors are subject cover all aspects of the securities business, including, among other things, sales and trading practices, publication of research, margin lending, uses and safekeeping of clients’ funds and securities, capital adequacy, recordkeeping and reporting, fee arrangements, disclosure to clients, fiduciary duties owed to advisory clients, and the conduct of directors, officers and employees.

As a registered broker-dealer, Schwab is subject to Rule 15c3-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Uniform Net Capital Rule) and related SRO requirements. The CFTC and NFA also impose net capital requirements. The Uniform Net Capital Rule specifies minimum capital requirements that are intended to ensure the general financial soundness and liquidity of broker-dealers. Because CSC itself is not a registered broker-dealer, it is not subject to the Uniform Net Capital Rule. However, if Schwab failed to maintain specified levels of net capital, such failure would constitute a default by CSC under certain debt covenants.

The Uniform Net Capital Rule limits broker-dealers’ ability to transfer capital to parent companies and other affiliates. Compliance with the Uniform Net Capital Rule could limit Schwab’s operations and its ability to repay subordinated debt to CSC, which in turn could limit CSC’s ability to repay debt, pay cash dividends, and purchase shares of its outstanding stock.

Sources of Net Revenues

The Company’s major sources of net revenues are asset management and administration fees, net interest revenue, and trading revenue. The Company generates asset management and administration fees through its proprietary and third-party mutual fund offerings, as well as fee-based investment management and advisory services. Net interest revenue is the difference between interest earned on interest-earning assets (such as cash, short- and long-term investments, and mortgage and margin loans) and interest paid on funding sources (including deposits in banking and brokerage accounts, short-term borrowings, and long-term debt). The Company generates trading revenues through commissions earned for executing trades for clients and principal transaction revenues from trading activity in fixed income securities.