The president of Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Thursday that there is no indication that the investment bank is close to settling U.S. fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn also said there is no sense of timing on a potential settlement, adding Goldman's client franchise was strong.

There's no indications of anything at this point on a settlement or its timing, Cohn told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Montreal.

Our client franchise is very strong. We've built up a relationship with our clients over 140 years. We continue to service our clients, we continue to serve our client needs. Our clients are very loyal, he said.

In April, the SEC charged Goldman with civil fraud in connection with the structuring and sale of a debt security called Abacus 2007. The SEC is investigating another Goldman mortgage-linked deal called Hudson Mezzanine Funding, a source familiar with the matter has said.

Cohn said he read about the latest probe in the newspaper.

The SEC's probe into Goldman comes as the U.S. Congress tries to hash out a final bill to revamp the financial system.

Under consideration are proposals to ban banks like Goldman from proprietary trading, owning hedge funds and private equity funds as well as measures that could force big banks out of the lucrative derivatives business.

Cohn said the proposal by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to prohibit proprietary trading was unclear. When asked if this could force Goldman to divest its real estate business, Cohn said anything is possible.

(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer, Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)

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