Goldman taps former head of NY Fed for chairman: report

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) is looking to name Gerald Corrigan, a former head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as chairman of its newly created bank holding company, Financial Times said.

Goldman and rival Morgan Stanley (MS.N) converted themselves to bank holding companies after investment bank Lehman Brothers LEMBQ.PK filed for bankruptcy in mid-September.

Corrigan's appointment, expected to be announced soon, comes as speculation mounts over Goldman's strategic direction in its new incarnation -- including whether it will buy another bank to build its deposits more quickly, the paper said.

During his tenure with the New York Fed, Corrigan was an activist figure who had no trouble telling heads of big banks to come up with swift action plans to improve balance sheets in the 1990 downturn, the paper said.

Goldman could not be immediately reached for a comment by Reuters.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Kim Coghill)