Wachovia Corp, which is being acquired by Wells Fargo & Co, reported Wednesday it had 24 billion dolalrs in losses in the third quarter, saying business customers had drained one quarter of their deposits as the bank teetered on the edge of collapse in September and early October.

The third-quarter loss at Wachovia was the highest for any bank since the financial crisis began more than a year ago, Bloomberg financial news service reported. It reflected an 18.7-billion-dollar charge for some of its investments in the mortgage market when housing prices were at their peak. (dpa)