NEW YORK – Federal Reserve officials have been pushing for Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. to reach a compromise over Wachovia Corp., according to a media report.

The effort could result in the two suitors carving up Wachovia's network of 3,346 branches along geographic lines, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the situation.

Under the plan discussed Sunday night, the Journal said, Citigroup would get the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank's Northeast and mid-Atlantic branches, while Wells Fargo would get branches in the Southeast and California and Wachovia's asset management and brokerage units.

The Sunday night talks are expected to resume Monday, the Journal said.

A call to the Fed for comment was not immediately returned.

Early last week, Citigroup agreed to buy Wachovia's banking assets for $2.1 billion in a deal brokered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. But then on Friday, Wells Fargo announced that it had agreed to acquire Wachovia in a deal worth $15.1 billion at the time, or $14.8 billion based on Wells Fargo's closing price Friday of $34.56. Wells Fargo's deal did not require any government support.

Citigroup has been fighting Wells Fargo's deal. But on Sunday night, a county court in North Carolina ruled against Citigroup Inc. in its battle for Wachovia. That decision arrived after the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court dismissed an order issued late Saturday by Justice Charles Ramos at Citigroup's request that would have extended the time Citigroup had to complete its acquisition of Wachovia.

In premarket trading Monday, Wachovia shares fell 40 cents, or 6.4 percent, to $5.81.

Wachovia, like many banks, has been slammed over the past year by defaulting mortgages, particularly in its portfolio of option adjustable-rate mortgages, which allowed many customers to pay less than the monthly interest owed on the loan.