Wells Fargo & Co on Wednesday said it is freezing its cash-balance pension plan for all employees, and has issued layoff notices to 548 workers in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, the former home of Wachovia Corp.

The moves will reduce costs, spokeswoman Mary Eshet said. Wells Fargo bought Wachovia for $12.5 billion at the end of 2008, and has said it expects about $5 billion of annual cost savings related to the merger, with job cuts beginning this quarter. It has not said how many jobs it plans to cut. (Reuters)