LPL to Lay Off 275 Workers

LPL Financial, the largest independent broker/dealer, which has more than 11,500 independent contractor representatives and nearly 3,000 employees, will lay off 10% of those workers, or about 275, according to an 8-K filing it made with the SEC on December 31, 2008. The filing said the staff cuts are meant to reduce “its operating costs as part of a comprehensive strategic business review,” and that all employees were notified of the cuts on December 29, 2008. The company will take a fourth-quarter 2008 charge of approximately $12 million due to “severance and similar personnel-related expenses,” and said it expects to “complete all activities associated with the restructuring” by January 31, 2009.