REPORT: Goldman Is Taking Dead Aim At One Of Bloomberg's Core Offerings

Julia La Roche for Business InsiderGoldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

The FT's Tracy Alloway is reporting that Goldman Sachs is leading an effort amongst big banks to create their own instant messaging system for traders and bankers.

The project is called "Babble" and it's a big deal because it could be a threat to the Bloomberg Terminal.

In case you're not familiar, a Bloomberg Terminal is basically a computer that allows Wall Streeters to instant message each other, obtain real-time market data, news, and stock quotes among many other functions.

A subscription for a terminal costs about $20,000 per year. Banks and hedge funds pay Bloomberg LP millions of dollars a year to buy Bloomberg terminal accounts for their employees.

A year ago, it was revealed that Bloomberg News reporters used private information from Bloomberg terminals to spy on employees at banks like Goldman and JPMorgan to fuel their coverage. Specifically, reporters were looking to see whether employees had logged on or not to determine if they were still with their firm.

A spokesperson for Goldman declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider.