“Charles Schwab Corp said on Tuesday it has no plans to change its commission-free trading policy on in-house branded exchange traded funds (ETFs), a move that triggered a price war among retail brokerages. Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) launched eight ETFs in November that can be traded online without commission fees, in an effort to increase its presence in a booming corner of the financial markets,” Daniel Bases Reports From Reuters.

Bases goes on to say, “When asked if Schwab would maintain a no-commission policy on its in-house ETFs, Peter Crawford, senior vice president at Schwab said: “Certainly it will continue at Schwab.” Crawford, who is responsible for product management, development and wholesaling of all Schwab’s mutual funds, was a member of a panel discussing the ETF industry in New York. He later told Reuters: “There are no plans for any (commission fees). This is not just a three or six month thing.”

“Schwab launched three bond ETFs on Aug. 5. Several retail brokerages including Vanguard Group, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (NYSE:AMTD) and Fidelity of Boston have recently slashed fees on ETF trading to seize market share. “Seems it is a race to the bottom,” Sue Thompson, the head of the registered investment advisory group at industry heavyweight iShares, said during the same conference. Money manager BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) bought iShares for $13.5 billion from Barclays Global Investors in late 2009,” Bases Reports.

ETF BASIC NEWS