Goldman Sachs Group Inc's lawyers are in talks with representatives of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to settle the fraud charges brought against it by the regulator, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Goldman's co-general counsel Gregory Palm, along with other lawyers and SEC officials participated in the preliminary discussion, the paper said, adding that the talks did not include any terms, such as the amount of fine or agreements Goldman could make with the agency.

On Tuesday, Fox Business Network reported that Goldman may enter talks with the SEC to get the regulators to back off civil fraud charges, and agree to lesser charges and a fine.

Last month, the SEC had accused Goldman of failing to tell investors the securities underlying a so-called synthetic collateralized debt obligation were chosen by a short-seller, John Paulson, whose fund was betting the CDO would lose value.

Goldman remains furious about being blindsided by the lawsuit filed by the SEC as the regulator did not give the firm a chance to settle, which could be a potential obstacle in the settlement talks, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Goldman and the SEC could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Anuradha Ramanathan in Bangalore; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

Goldman sachs Settlement