S&P: Charles Schwab unchanged

Standard & Poor's said news that Charles Schwab Corp. is acquiring OptionsXpress Holdings Inc. would have no impact on Charles Schwab's ratings.

OptionsXpress brings 379,000 accounts with $7.8 billion of client assets as of the fourth-quarter of 2010, S&P said.

More importantly, OptionsXpress brings its innovative options and foreign-exchange platform, which should help Charles Schwab improve its offerings in these areas and cross sell its products to current OptionsXpress clients, S&P said.

The agency said it looks favorably that the acquisition is an all-stock transaction, so it will not weaken Charles Schwab's debt service or tangible leverage metrics, the agency said.

Nevertheless, Charles Schwab has not indicated if it will assume or pay off OptionsXpress's current $120 million of bank debt after the deal closes in the third quarter of 2011, S&P added.

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