Federal Reserve officials were prodding Citigroup and Wells Fargo to arrive at a compromise over Wachovia, and the plan discussed Sunday night involves both suitors getting a piece of their target, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Under the plan, Wells Fargo will take Wachovia's asset management and brokerage units, along with Wachovia's branches in the Southeast and California. Citi will get the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic branches. The night ended without a compromise and the firms are expected to resume their talks Monday.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Wachovia and Citi continued their tussle over the exclusivity agreement Wachovia inked when it agreed last week to sell its banking business to Citigroup.

On Saturday night, Judge Charles Ramos of the Supreme Court of the State of New York granted Citi an emergency injunctive relief extending the exclusivity agreement until Friday (see The MFWire, October 5, 2008).

Wachovia and Wells Fargo on Sunday sought to get the order overruled in state appellate court. A U.S. district court judge didn't issue a ruling on Sunday, but said both parties have until the October 7 hearing to submit briefs, according to the Journal report. A state appeals-court judge on Sunday night overturned Judge Ramos' order, saying: "I believe questions have been raised regarding the authority of Justice Ramos to have issued the order while physically located outside the state of New York." 

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