Charles Schwab invests £60m to gain UK footing

US brokers Charles Schwab and TD Waterhouse have joined forces to buy into the UK online share market through the acquisition of Aitken Campbell, a Scottish subsidiary of Abbey National.

According to reports, the US giants have offered £60m for the company in an attempt to to take on rivals Merrill Lynch and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in the UK market. The news follows only days after the company revealed it had asked 13,00 employees in the US to work a four-day week in an attempt to cut costs.