JPMorgan Chase & Co has put its life insurance and annuity operations up for sale, a source familiar with the matter said on Saturday, in the latest move by the No 3 US bank to shed a smaller noncore business.

JPMorgan, which last year bought Chicago-based rival Bank One Corp for $58 billion, owns a US life insurance and annuity business that Bank One bought from Zurich Financial Services Group in 2003 for $500 million, in addition to its own small operation.

The current auction comes after E*Trade Financial Corp in September agreed to buy the online broker Brown Co from JPMorgan for $1.6 billion.

Copyright Reuters, 2005