Goldman Sachs to buy GE Capital Bank's $16bn online platform

Goldman Sachs Group said it is acquiring GE Capital Bank's US online banking business with $16bn (£10.2bn, €14.4bn) in savings accounts and other deposits.

Goldman said the transaction does not involve any financial assets, and real estate as the GE Capital Bank's deposit platform is online only. The financial terms of the deal are not disclosed.

"This transaction achieves greater funding diversification and strengthens the liquidity profile of GS Bank by providing an additional deposit gathering channel," Liz Beshel Robinson, treasurer of the Goldman Sachs Group, said in a statement.

"The establishment of this channel represents the advancement of a key funding objective for the firm."

GE Capital Bank's CEO Esta Stecher and president Scott Roberts are expected to join Goldman Sachs along with other employees.

The deal is expected to bolster Goldman Sach's consumer banking businesses, as the company diversifies its operations, transforming itself into a more conventional bank after the 2008 financial crisis.

Meanwhile, conglomerate General Electric is exiting most of its financial services amid strict regulations in the US. GE plans to dispose of most GE Capital assets except those related to its industrial businesses. By the end of 2015, GE expects to divest $100bn worth of financial assets under GE Capital.

The regulators view GE Capital's size as significant, and want the company to be subject to regulation as one of the largest lenders in the US. The group hopes to escape the regulator's oversight by cutting back on its financial business.

GE earlier said it agreed to sell its US healthcare finance unit to Capital One for about $9bn, as part of the move.