* FDIC opposes CIT access to debt-guarantee program

* CIT discussing transfer of assets to CIT Bank

* Says transfers would enhance liquidity position

* Bonds, stocks fall sharply (Recasts headline, lead)

By Elinor Comlay and Karey Wutkowski

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, July 13 (Reuters) - The survival of CIT Group Inc CIT.N, a key source of financing for thousands of small and medium-sized companies, became ensnared in disagreements between regulators in Washington on Monday.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which insures deposits at U.S. banks, opposed an attempt by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve to rescue the lender by granting it access to a government debt-guarantee program, according to a source familiar with the matter. [ID:nN13193775]

The prices of CIT shares and bonds tumbled as investors worried the commercial lender would not be able to meet its obligations to bondholders, perhaps pushing the company into bankruptcy and disrupting the financing on which its corporate customers depend. For a related analysis, please see [ID:nN12420794]

CIT's difficulties are "going to make funding more expensive all around," said Dan Brown, chief economist for Euler Hermes, a unit of insurer Allianz SE (ALVG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research).