Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently discussed a possible settlement to simultaneously resolve the fraud lawsuit against Goldman and some of the agency's probes of Goldman's mortgage department, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

The settlement idea was broached by Goldman, which is eager to end the bad publicity it has faced since the SEC sued it in April over a collateralized debt obligation called Abacus 2007-AC1, the sources said.

Combining a settlement of the Abacus lawsuit with a resolution of related SEC probes could soothe Goldman clients and investors, and shield the Wall Street firm from the release of information that could be used against Goldman in private litigation, the report stated.

Some shareholders have been pushing Goldman to seek an all-in-one settlement, the Journal reported, citing the sources.