Goldman Sachs Plans to Stay Public, Seek Deposits

Goldman Sachs, which is expected to report its first quarterly loss since it became public in 1999, is not seeking to go private, sources close to the investment bank told CNBC.

Instead, Goldman is looking to build out its bank deposits through acquisitions, these sources said.

Goldman has spoken to State Street Bank at one point about a possible acquisition, although the status of those talks is unclear. Goldman also spoke to Wachovia before it was purchased by Wells Fargo.

Officials inside Goldman concede the shift to a banking business model is difficult because its hard to find bank deposits that are "unencumbered," meaning they are not part of a bank that has bad assets on its books

Goldman  made bundles of money in proprietary trading and prime brokerage, but now it's a bank holding company, and the firm will have to cut back on those two capital-intensive activities.

Sources close to Goldman said the firm is now busy cutting 10 percent to 15 percent of its overall staff. The job cuts are expected to be bigger in certain areas such as proprietary trading and prime brokerage, where the cuts could be as much as 20 percent to 30 percent.

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