Big Board’s Newest Dot-com: ‘ET’

E*TRADE Group, Inc., on Thursday announced it has joined the New York Stock Exchange and, going forward, will trade under its new symbol.

Since its initial public offering on August 16, 1996, E*TRADE Group, Inc. had been listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under its original ticker

“This move provides E*TRADE the opportunity to widen its potential investor base and visibility in both domestic and international markets, while also aligning ourselves with the top financial services companies around the world,” said Christos M. Cotsakos, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, E*TRADE Group, Inc.

The move comes a week after the Menlo Park, Calif.-based online brokerage firm unveiled a new global organization establishing four geographic regions: North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Each region will have a general manager who will focus on executing one of the following key strategies: banking and asset gathering, brokerage and institutional, insurance, and systems operations.

“With the recent announcement of our new global organizational structure, E*TRADE’s move to the NYSE, the world’s most prestigious stock exchange, is well-timed…As we reorganize ourselves globally, to better serve our customers and shareowners in all markets, E*TRADE is positioning itself for future growth and profitability,” Cotsakos said.

Could eBay now be far behind?