It looks like the market logic of the pervasive 'rule of three' may soon apply to the world of wirehouses. The latest massive B-D merger, if it pans out, would create a giant distribution organization that few mutual fund companies could afford to ignore. Last month Citigroup and Morgan Stanley unveiled a joint venture that combines their brokerages (see MFWire, 1/9/2009, 1/12/2009 and 1/13/2009), and now the New York Post's Mark DeCambre reports that UBS and Wells Fargo-owned Wachovia held "preliminary talks" about launching a similar joint venture, combining UBS Global Wealth Management in the US with Wachovia Securities.

The Post estimates that the two wirehouses have a total of 24,000 reps between them, versus Citi-Smith Barney-Morgan Stanley's 20,000 reps.

Spokespeople for UBS and Wachovia both declined to comment. 

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