Regions Financial Corp. hopes to complete the sale of brokerage unit Morgan Keegan & Co. as early as this week, according to earlier reports in the Wall Street Journal.  Potential buyers include Raymond James Financial Inc. and Stifel Financial Corp.  The sale price is expected to range from $900 million to $1 billion. Hurdles Facing the Sale. Initially, Regions expected to sell Morgan Keegan for upwards of $1.5 billion.  The price and Regions' expectations have had to come down because of delays.  First, before any deal can be consummated, it must be signed-off by federal regulators - that's because Regions Financial still still owes the U.S. government $3.5 billion in TARP repayments.  Another hurdle is the "challenging" market conditions, which are stripping excess reserves from potential suiters, according to Regions CEO Grayson Hall. A third concern is the possibility of job losses arising from Morgan Keegan's merger with a brokerage industry peer, due to which current employees are said to prefer an acquisition by a private-equity firm.  Both Raymond James and Stifel are publicly traded;  RJF employs 5,400 people;  SF's headcount numbers around 2000.   [RTTNews, 1/7/12]