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CHARLOTTE, NC-Legal battles between locally based Wachovia Corp. and two other major banks have been halted briefly while the Federal Reserve attempts to mediate a compromise over which suitor will assume ownership, possibly dividing its deposits. Resolution of the matter was expected to be reached by noon Wednesday and is now being extended to Friday morning, according to various reports.

Litigation in the matter has stretched from New York to North Carolina since last weekend as New York City-based Citigroup Inc. attempts to block San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. from advancing its offer to buy Wachovia. Wachovia accepted Wells' $15-billion stock-swap offer Oct. 2, four days after Citi had made a lesser offer that included a bailout provision by the FDIC covering billions of dollars in bad mortgages issued by Wachovia.

A compromise was reportedly reached Tuesday in which Wells would get at least 75% of Wachovia's deposits while Citi would get the remaining balance. Wells would inherit Wachovia's branches in the Southeast and on the West Coast, while Citi would get those in the Northeast.