In yet another example of the backchannel maneuvering that preceded the federal government's bailout of the financial sector, Goldman Sachs' chief Lloyd Blankfein reached out to Citigroup's Vikram Pandit last month to discuss a merger, The Financial Times reported.
In a call, made at the tentative suggestion of the regulatory authorities -- or at least with their blessing -- shortly after Goldman had won approval to convert itself from a securities firm into a commercial bank, Mr. Pandit quickly rejected the proposal.