Tar Heel banking's withdrawal symptoms.

• Position: DUE DILIGENCE

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo could become the largest mortgage originator in the state after it buys Charlotte-based Wachovia. Loans * (millions) 1 Bank of America Corp. $8,053.1 2 Wells Fargo & Co. 4,929.8 3 Wachovia Corp. 4,231.1 4 BB&T Corp. 3,502.1 5 SunTrust Banks Inc. 2,840.0 6 JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2,404.8 7 Citigroup Inc. 1,676.3 8 State Employees Credit Union 1,544.0 9 National City Corp. 890.8 10 HSBC Holdings PLC 770.2 11 AmTrust Financial Corp. 722.2 12 Royal Bank of Canada 631.4 13 Fifth Third Bancorp 591.4 14 First Citizens BancShares lnc. 566.7 15 Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. 564.8 * based on 2007 data; company totals are adjusted for acquisitions closed in the first 10 months of 2008. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

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Wells Fargo's purchase of Wachovia will strip the...