TD Ameritrade sees charge in money fund fallout

NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (AMTD.O) said it will take a fiscal fourth-quarter charge of up to $50 million to cover client losses in an outside money market mutual fund that lost some principal.

The charge may total 5 cents per share, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said on Wednesday. It relates to last week's announcement that the Reserve Primary Fund's net asset value had fallen to 97 cents per share because of losses tied to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc's (LEHMQ.PK) bankruptcy. Money market mutual funds are designed to maintain a constant $1 per share price, but there is no guarantee they will do so.

While the U.S. Treasury Department last week said it would temporarily guarantee money market funds against as much as $50 billion of losses, TD Ameritrade said the department has advised that Primary fund investors are not covered.

"We are stepping in to help our clients because it's the right thing to do," TD Ameritrade Chief Operating Officer Fred Tomczyk said. Analysts on average expected the company to have a quarterly profit of 31 cents per share, Reuters Estimates said. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Maureen Bavdek)