Goldman CEO apologizes for role in crisis -report

Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein joins other TARP recipient financial institution leaders as they testify before House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 11, 2009.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said his firm "participated in things that were clearly wrong" in the lead-up to the financial crisis, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

Blankfein apologized during a conference in New York hosted by Directorship magazine, Bloomberg said.

"We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret," Blankfein said. "We apologise."

As a result of the crisis, Goldman Sachs and competitors received billions of dollars in bailouts from taxpayers.

Goldman Sachs has repaid the $10 billion (5.9 billion pounds) it borrowed from the U.S. government and has reported more than $3 billion in profits during each of the past two quarters. Its quick turnaround and potential for outsized bonuses so soon after the crisis have brought a public relations problem for Goldman.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

(Reporting by Steve Eder, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)