July 11 (Reuters) - CIT Group Inc CIT.N, a commercial U.S. lender struggling to finance its business, is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing after so far failing to gain access to a key U.S. government lending program, the Wall Street Journal website reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company has retained the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, which has a prominent bankruptcy practice, to prepare for a possible filing, the WSJ cited the sources as saying.

CIT could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters.

The company's shares fell as much as 39.2 percent on Friday after reports that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp will reject the New York-based company's effort to join its Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program because CIT's credit quality is worsening.

CIT said on Friday it was in active talks with the U.S. government to gain access to the lending program. [ID:nN10512053] (Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore)