Goldman CEO apologizes for role in crisis -report

NEW YORK 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)