Bank seeking assets to buy
Goldman might spend up to $50b
NEW YORK - Goldman Sachs Group Inc is looking to buy up to $50 billion in assets from troubled US banks, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing executives at the bank.
The newspaper said Goldman is looking to buy the assets as part of its transition into commercial banking.
A week ago, Goldman and rival Morgan Stanley said they would become bank holding companies, enabling them to accept deposits - and killing the investment bank model that had dominated Wall Street for decades.
Goldman said then that it intends to expand its deposit base by buying deposits from other banks, including those in distress.
The Financial Times said Goldman plans to talk to US regulators to find $50 billion in assets it could buy from the struggling banks. Those assets would be in addition to the $150 billion of its own assets it is moving to its Utah industrial loan corporation, a bank regulated in that state, the report said.
The company could not be immediately reached for comment. 