April 7 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein said the past year has been “deeply humbling” for the banking industry and that it will take years to regain trust in Wall Street.

“The loss of public confidence from failing to live up to expectations that we created will take years to rebuild,” Blankfein said in a speech today at the Council of Institutional Investors’ spring conference in Washington. “Worse, decisions on compensation and other actions taken and not taken, particularly at banks that rapidly lost a lot of shareholder value, look self-serving and greedy in hindsight.”

Goldman Sachs, which was the largest securities firm before converting into a bank holding company in September, is one of the 19 largest U.S. banks that are scheduled to undergo a so- called stress test this month by the Treasury to determine which banks need more capital. Goldman Sachs, whose shares have gained more than 30 percent this year, is in talks with regulators about trying to return $10 billion of government money once the stress tests are completed.

After reporting its first loss as a public company in the fourth quarter, Goldman is expected to report a profit of $1.70 per share in the first quarter, according to the average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The bank said it plans to report first-quarter earnings on April 14.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christine Harper in New York at charper@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 7, 2009 10:05 EDT