Arlington, Virginia based online trading and banking firm E*Trade Financial Corporation has set the wheels in motion toward the planned Q4-2020 closing of its acquisition by investment banking giant Morgan Stanley. The two firms first announced the planned deal on February 20.

E*Trade indicated in a regulatory filing that it will be holding a special shareholder meeting for the required shareholder vote to approve the transaction on July 17. The “record date” for the shareholder vote is June 10, meaning that EFTC shareholders of record as of June 10, 2020 are entitled to receive the proxy statement regarding the transaction, and to vote at the special meeting.

Aside from the details of the all-share transaction itself – which will see E*Trade shareholders receive 1.0432 shares of Morgan Stanley common stock for each ETFC share – shareholders will also be voting on certain compensation that may be paid to each E*Trade executive officers in connection with the deal.

The E*Trade-Morgan Stanley deal is expected to close at some point in Q4-2020, and is still subject to required regulatory approvals.

E*Trade’s Board of Directors said that it unanimously recommends that the company’s stockholders vote “FOR” the adoption of the Merger Agreement and approval of the other voting matters included in the proxy statement.

E*Trade shares remain at about the same level they were before the Morgan Stanley acquisition was announced, in the $45 range, after an initial post-deal-announcement pop to $55. Morgan Stanley shares have declined from $56 and change to just under $45. At current share prices the deal values E*Trade at USD $10.3 billion. E*Trade has over 5.2 million client accounts with over $360 billion of retail client assets.