New York  - Banking rivals Citigroup and Wells Fargo have postponed for a day legal action over their tug-of-war for Wachovia, the United States' fourth-largest bank, it was disclosed Tuesday.

Citigroup on Monday filed a lawsuit against rival Wells Fargo & Co and Wachovia for 60 billion dollars in punitive and compensatory damages after a Wachovia announcement that it would go with a takeover offer of 15 billion dollars in a stock-for-stock exchange from Wells Fargo.

The Wells Fargo offer would override a Citigroup-government deal announced September 29, which offered 2.16 billion dollars for Wachovia.

Jakarta - Indonesia's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 9.50 per cent on Tuesday, signalling its commitment to fight inflation at the risk of slower growth, officials said.

Bank Indonesia Governor Boediono told reporters that the key rate was increased to suit high inflation and to anticipate the global financial crisis.

Inflation soared to 12.14 per cent year-on-year in September from 11.85 per cent in August, driven by resilient domestic demand and higher global commodity and fuel prices.

Indonesia's stock index plunged 10.02 per cent on Monday amid the global credit crisis. On Tuesday, the Indonesian composite index was down 1.76 per cent.

Reykjavik - The Icelandic government, backed by opposition parties, adopted an "emergency law" late on Monday to reorganize its financial system that has been severely battered.

Prime Minister Geir Haarde said in a televised speech to the nation that the bank crisis also posed a national threat.

"There is a very real danger, fellow citizens, that the Icelandic economy, in the worst case, could be sucked with the banks into the whirlpool and the result could be national bankruptcy," he said.

The new legislation was to "adapt the banking system to Icelandic circumstances and rebuild the trust of foreign operators in Icelandic banking and financial operations," Haarde said.

Brussels - Belgium's former Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene is to head the board of the struggling Franco-Belgian financial service group Dexia, Belgium's Prime Minister Yves Leterme announced Tuesday after an overnight crisis meeting in Brussels.

French banker and BNP Paribas executive Pierre Mariani is to serve as as chief executive. Mariani is currently a senior executive vice president at France's largest bank, BNP Paribas, France's largest bank.

New York - Bank of America Corp saw third quarter profits drop by more than two-thirds, prompting it on Monday to halve its dividend payments and sell 10 billion dollars in stock to raise money.

"These are the most difficult times for financial institutions that I have experienced in my 39 years in banking," Kenneth D Lewis, the bank's chairman and chief executive said in a statement.

New York - In the acquisition scramble for Wachovia bank, Citigroup Monday sued rival Wells Fargo & Co and Wachovia for 60 billion dollars in punitive and compensatory damages, Citigroup said.

The move is the latest in the Wall Street scramble as the US financial system struggles for stability amidst a severe credit crunch. Despite Friday's passage of a 
700-billion-dollar bail-out plan by the US government, US stocks continued to plummet Monday, with the three major indices losing more than 5 per cent in trading at midday.