New York  - A possible compromise in the takeover battle for ailing Wachovia bank was in the making, with the two takeover rivals, Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. considering a deal to divide up the the bank, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The newspaper said the two banks, with officials of the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury Department also involved, were discussing this scenario to end their takeover battle which in turn was disrupting a federal rescue of Wachovia.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the developments, executives at Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia - the fourth-biggest US bank - were excluded from the talks.

Berlin  - The European Central Bank (ECB) has agreed to relax quality rules for securities to expedite the rescue of German lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE), according to German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck Monday.

He spoke just hours after Germany unveiled an emergency loan package of 50 billion euros for HRE, 35 billion of which is backstopped by a joint government and banking industry guarantee.

His remarks in Berlin were the first indication of how the rest of the credit is to be secured.

Paris  - French bank BNP Paribas will pay 14.5 billion euros (19.7 billion dollars) to take over the majority of the troubled insurance and banking giant Fortis in Belgium and Luxembourg, BNP Paribas said on Monday.

The deal, which involves 9 billion euros worth of shares and 5.5 billion euros in cash, includes the purchase of 75 per cent of Fortis from the Belgian government and 16 per cent of Fortis Luxembourg, which raises BNP's stake in the Luxembourg segment of Fortis to 67 per cent.

On the back of recent decision by the Indian central bank (RBI) and the finance ministry, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) will now be able to invest funds in Indian depository Receipts (IDRs).

Even though, RBI and finance ministry have approved the subscription of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), it is still awaiting approval from the corporate affairs ministry.

The market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has put a limit on the size needed for issuing IDRs at Rs 500 million and minimum investment by retail investors has been set at Rs 20 million.

Berlin - The German government and Germany's leading banks and insurance companies agreed late Sunday to expand a bail-out for troubled mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate 
(HRE).

They agreed to a bail-out that would run 50 billion euros (68 billion dollars).

The measure supercedes an earlier HRE rescue plan that fell apart when other banks pulled out of the deal. That package had a price tag of 35 billion euros.

HRE would receive a credit line of 30 billion euros, according to the German Finance Ministry.