The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department on Sunday evening were pushing for the sale of Wachovia Corp., which owns Evergreen Investments, The New York Times reported on its Web site.

Citigroup and Wells Fargo were said to have gotten their first look at Wachovia's books at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday. Regulators reportedly pressed the firms to move swiftly.

According to the report, Citigroup and Wells Fargo were not likely to bid more than a few dollars per share for Wachovia, whose stock was trading at $10 on Friday. Citi and Wells Fargo urged the Feds to seize Wachovia and allow them to purchase its assets, like the JPMorgan -Washington Mutual transaction, or to give a sort of financial backstop, the report stated, citing anonymous sources.

Executives of Charlotte-based Wachovia, led by CEO Robert Steel, a former lieutesnant of Henry Paulson at Goldman Sachs and the Treasury Department, spent the weekend handling negotations in the Manhattan offices of law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

Other firms that Wachovia was said to have talked to in the last two weeks include Spanish bank Banco Santander, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. 

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