Goldman approached Citi over merger in September

Goldman Sachs Group approached Citigroup Inc. over the possibility of merging the firms in September, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The call was made by Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein to Citi's Vikram Pandit not long after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15, the newspaper said. The call didn't lead to further talks, but the fact it occurred at all underscores the severity of the crisis, the newspaper reported.