“Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has held preliminary internal discussions in recent years about splitting off its lucrative commodities-trading business, according to people briefed on the discussions.

The idea hasn’t gained traction and has been tabled, as the New York investment bank is waiting to see how the business fits into the final version of new regulations such as the Volcker rule, which is scheduled to be implemented in coming months. The final rule is expected to ban some types of trading and could hit commodities-trading revenue hard, these people said.

But the fact that Goldman has considered a possible restructuring of such a major business shows how dramatically new rules are reshaping the investment-banking landscape.”

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