E-Trade Financial Corp. announced Monday that it named Robert Druskin its chairman and interim chief executive officer, effective Dec. 31.

Druskin, who has been a lead independent director on E-Trade’s board since February 2008, will replace Don Layton, who is retiring from both positions at the end of this year.

Layton, 59, announced in September that he would retire as planned when his contract expired. At that time, he said in an interview that he has fixed the New York company's balance sheet and guided it through the difficult credit cycle.

Layton, who was named chairman in November 2007 and became CEO in March 2008, said he spent much of his tenure "shrinking the loan portfolio every quarter by about $1 billion per quarter." Despite speculation the company would sell its bank, he said, "that was never a viable alternative" because the banking and brokerage operations were "inextricably intertwined."

Druskin, a former chief operating officer at Citigroup Inc., has chaired E-Trade’s finance and risk oversight committee and served on the nominating and governance committee.

E-Trade said it has made “meaningful progress” in the search for a new chief executive. The company said Druskin is not a candidate to fill the CEO position permanently. To ensure a smooth transition, Layton has entered into a consulting agreement to aid Druskin and the to-be-named CEO, as needed.