M&T Bank’s talks to buy Sovereign Bank from Banco Santander have stalled over disagreements as to who would control the combined entity, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said that as of Thursday, the talks for a deal were “dead.”

The two banks reopened negotiations in August about merging Santander’s Sovereign Bank into M&T, New York regional lender, after talks reportedly stalled in May over who would control the enlarged business.

According to The Journal, while M&T’s chief executive, Robert Wilmers, wanted his team to run operations of the combined bank, Santander officials were unwilling to guarantee this.

Recently reported efforts to reach a compromise, such as putting Sovereign under Mr. Wilmers’ control in exchange for Santander getting a majority stake in the combined entity, have “run into trouble,” according to the story. The Journal also said it was not clear if regulatory officials would approve the merger.