In other financial news, the nation’s fourth largest bank, Wachovia, has been acquired by Citigroup for $2 billion in a deal orchestrated by the federal government to prevent another bank failure. The deal could cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. Citigroup is inheriting over $300 billion in Wachovia’s loans, but the government has agreed to pay any losses over the $42 billion mark. Wachovia’s sale comes just days after Washington Mutual was seized by regulators before its assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase. The fall of Washington Mutual and Wachovia leaves the nation with three superbanks: Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. The consolidation may result in higher fees on everything from checking accounts to bounced checks and overdrafts and lower interest-rate yields on deposit accounts.