Citi: Wells Fargo blocked from Wachovia sale

I'm not an attorney, but I've been taught that with contracts you look at the intent and action of the parties. Citi thought they had a deal and actually started handling Wachovia's financial obligations. Wachovia didn't protest at all. Then 4 or 5 days later up pops Wells Fargo and says we'll buy the whole thing. Seems like they're a day late and a dollar short. Oh, and when the sale is done through the FDIC, the shareholders don't vote on anything. It's being sold to avoid bankruptcy. I believe Citi has the winner here. Wells can buy what Citi didn't, but I feel Citi owns what they've bought. We'll see and I own stock in both Citi and Wells.    

When it was announced that citi corp. was taking over Wachovia I smelled a rat in the mix. I still do. Why would the FDIC support citi without first looking at Wachovias finances which were in some trouble because of those who betted on Wachovia failure. Usually a bank is taken over on a friday so their records can be looked at by federal regulators. This deal between citi and FDIC sounds to me like someone got their hands padded, or promised a job at a later date.  I think there should be a full investigation of this deal. As for Wells Fargo, they offered a better deal to the stock holders than they got from citi and the FDIC. It should be allowed to go thru
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Hmmmm all you have to do is look at the "protected" and "in the club" list that Paulson has.  Citi is on that list, Wells fargo isnt.

So what we have here is Citi vs Wac at which there was no signed contracts/agreements.  Tax payer money "was" involved with this proposed deal.  Also there has been no agreement by Citi's share holders in this proposed deal.

Now WF comes in and buys the whole company without the FDIC and NO tax payer money.  And yes they do have a signed contract/agreement. And it is also backed by the share holders.

Yes I smell a rat here and Citi is on that short ist of good ol boys with the federal reserve aka Paulson.  Now you have a court who is now blocking the WF/Wac deal because Citi went crying like a little @!$%#.  Hmmmmmmm wonder if this is the same court in NY that has blocked all litigations inref to the fraudlent practices of wall street and what the federal reserve has done as of late.  I smell paid off judges.  Citi has alot to lose and for one thing a part of that hugh 850 BILLION dollar bailout.

What I say is let the WF deal go thr and say F you Citi.

Excuse me a billion versus 14 billion methinks I smell a rat

The FDIC should be looking for the best deal, period.

Why would the goverment and the courts want to prevent this?  A better deal and no taxpayer money.  Are we democratic or socialistic?

No goverment money, MY MONEY.  Better deal.  Why would the goverment and courts fight it?  Is it screw the working man or socialism!!!

It seems that the Government is intent on having only 3 banks which are Citicorp, Chase, and Bank of America. If Wells Fargo offered significantly more money to me it sounds like Citicorp is being a cry baby,  Its time to let competition and not who has the best lobbyist in Washington to make the decision. After all the $700 billion dollar bail out will only help the rich and powerful with Washington connections, Think if that same amount of money was placed in the hands of the individual citizens how that would of spurred the economy. To me instead of letting capitalism work the US is becoming more of a socialist country. Of course in Socialism this leaves the little guy with little competition, no aid, and low paying work positions while the rich live their lavish lifestyles..

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/banking/story/234472.html says it all

The agreement with Wachovia that Citigroup has cited and that contains the ban on negotiating with any other potential bidders was not a final merger contract, but a letter agreement to "continue to proceed to negotiate definitive agreements."

The letter agreement does not state that a deal must be completed. It also specifically rules out the collection of money damages if the agreement to negotiate were breached.

Yeah, this speaks real well of the government's ability to get fair value for anything on the market. I take it this means me and you, John Taxpayer, will be paying $700 billion for mortgage securities with a face value of $1 trillion so we can well them for $100 billion to Paulson's cronies.

As  an  outsider,  all  I  know  is  this:  If  the  Wells  Fargo  deal  is  better  for  the  American  people,  the  U.S.  government  should  side  with  the  people! This is not the right time to play losing games!

Hate to say it but it'll call Free Enterprize.  Citigroup, a Japanese owned company, was dealing with the FDIC not Wachovia.  The FDIC is trying to control things their way and Wachovia is not being asked.  They haven't actually failed .......the FDIC jumped in to prevent it when it got too shaky.  I was under the impressivion that the FDIC insured the accounts not grabbed control of a bank. 

I think Wachovia should be allowed to sell to anyone they want.  FDIC still insures the accounts no matter who the new owner is.    The new bailout supposedly covers the accounts up to $250,000 now.

If the FDIC wants to stick their nose in deals they should be looking at Nancy Pelousi voting to approve AIG's takeout as a conflict of interest!  After all she had a huge interest in whether that folded.

Maybe the easiest solution is to change banks people ----how many of you have accounts in Citigroup owned banks.........time to move your account to Wells Fargo!  Good grief, don't move it to Bank of America!   You will be sorry for sure I can tell you from experience.

Socialism..........did anyone say Obama.......he's definitely pushing socialist ideas and he's got some interesting contacts.  Just how does a lowly Senator with very little experience manage to own a 1.4M house?  That's what sounds shady!

Last, it's not just that Obama is a lowly Senator, it's that he AND HIS WIFE, both had fairly low paying jobs their entire careers, until he became a Senator. Obama is a card carrying member of the ultra secret CFR, which was formed to exercise complete financial control over the world. And, it is true that Paulson has close ties to Citigroup. I can't imagine that the FDIC would continue to support this deal, when the Wells deal would cost us nothing. It's a known fact that the FDIC is running low on money to support bank takeovers, so why not just shut up and bow out?

This country is headed right down the toilet! Our government is playing right into the hands of Iran and all the rest of the extremists. It makes me sick and I'm afraid it will soon make us dead.

This is unbelievable -- with everything else going on in the financial sector, Citi has the audacity to pursue this issue in the courts.  The Citi deal doesn't even begin to compare to the one Wells Fargo offered -- not for the shareholders, not for the customers, not for the employees,  not for the American taxpayer, and not for the financial industry.
Earlier in the week, after the "agreement in principle" announcement it really did seem, based on Citi's slow actions and half-hearted press releases, that Citi was a reluctant suitor to the Wachovia deal.  Now it's apparent that Citi wants this deal with Wachovia, not because they want to be a more successful organization, but rather they want to be "too big to fail".  Citi is not currently in a terribly stable position themselves.  The Wachovia deal would have helped, but possibly not enough, and the efforts involved in combining operations might seriously hurt them by taking attention and focus off what Citi needs to be doing.  And in that scenario, we'd have the FDIC, the FED and even the American taxpayer on the line for a future bailout of Citi.
Pursuing this further isn't going to succeed...Citi does not have the support of the Wachovia shareholders, customers or employees and that will quickly spill over to the general public.  Which, in the banking business, is not a good thing. 
Pandit needs, to paraphrase, to put his industry first, and stop this nonsense.  Lick your wounds, go home, and please! fix up your own house.

Citibank wants this deal so it can work itself out something nice, with the FDIC backing it.  A bank that takes over another with gov't intervention will not be subject to the same rules, at least that is what they were saying as one of the new rules to be passed with Congress' bailout plan, some weeks back.If the FDIC and the judge block Wells Fargo from acquiring Wachovia, when Wells does not want/need help from the Feds, then there ought to be an investigation begun by whoever is elected prez next month, asap.  Was Paulson throwing the Japanese at Citi a bone?  The rest of the world's banks are not exactly happy with us, as some of their major banks need bailing out also. Hmmm, guess we'll know more Monday.

You know, the last time I checked this was stll the United States of America, the symbol of freedom that extends into its capitalistic economy. Why shouldn't Wells Fargo be allowed to absorb Wachovia into its system? IS it because the crooked federal government has a side deal with Citi, perhaps Citi has paid more into the coffers of these cronies? Could it be that the feds would have no stake in an organization that is sure to turn around and profit, thus leaving the feds with it? YEs, there was a letter of intent, 2 pages, but can they really get into the legal jargon of Wachovia can't entertain offers from other parties? Woudl Wachovia be that stupid to do that? Would Wells Fargo be that stupid to do that? Wells Fargo even notified the FDIC 3 hours before it approached Wachovia. Citi finds out and starts throwing a temper becasue they could't get their way and then the feds spike up stating the same.

Citi needs to go back to where it belongs, the middle east.  Maybe it can finance some big buildings there and after they pay the princes back can make their 35-40% profit. Their stock here is a little higher than Fordf's or Chrysler's. Without Bush's or Congress's help they would'nt have the money to cleany Wachoia's headquarter's in Charlotte.

Go Wells Fargo, beats this predator company and their Indian Ceo with his huge stock options that are surely tied to off-shore banking so he doesn't have to pay tax into the federal treasury. I throw their repulsive credit cards in my shredder.  

Vote Ralph Nader. Quit these two political parties that blow smoke up our arses.

We are not VZ, agreements and obligations resulting from such are a basis for our business success. C will win as based on law. For example, if you enter into an exclusivty agreement with a firm to sell your home, but next week a relative says they will  buy it from you   directly, guess what, you still owe the realtor the commission.

Also, if betting football, Vegas is  going to require everyone to place bet before game, no one is alowed to come in after half time and place bet based on new information.   

This is why people hate our Government... back door politics! Citi group is trying to steal Wachovia with the Governments help!

I pray Wells Fargo fights and succeeds and does not give up.

who in gods name is this judge who blocks the sale to wells fargo that would not only it appears benefit the stock holders of wachovia but also save taxpayers billions of dollars that would be given out if citi bank buys wachovia for $2.1 billion. wells fargo has offered $14.8 billion. what if that judge had a $50,000 car and he said ok i will sell it to you for $500 but than someone says i will pay you $48,000 for your car. well gee i guess you have to go with the $500 offer right. the fdic has decided to stand behind the citi offer of $2.1 billion which would require billions of dollars of bailout money wheras the wells fargo deal requires  none. is the name F  DIC(K) because i think they are trying to screw us. they are supposed to be watching our money not giving it away. as stated in the article citi is in a bit of trouble themselves as in losses so do we really want to give a huge bank like wachovia basically as a christmas present to a bank that has issues.

Citi has bought FDIC members plain and simple.

FDIC members need to be investigated now plain and simple. When a ship begins to sink it is time to find the hole and plug it up.  How can regular Americans call for the FDIC to be Investigated for fraud and for failure to protect our American dollar?