Only a year after the government stepped in to aid Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley by granting them access to the federal safety net, policy makers are developing an exit path that would allow them and others to escape limits on banks being proposed by the Obama administration.

President Obama wants to limit the scope of risk-taking by barring banks with federally insured deposits from trading securities for their own accounts and from owning hedge funds and private equity funds. The plan, policy makers said on Friday, would effectively require bank holding companies  which Goldman and Morgan became at the height of the financial crisis  to divest themselves of these lucrative operations.

But Treasury Department officials are also seeking to give banks that do not like the proposed rules the option of dropping their status as holding companies to keep their trading and other investment businesses.

The move is likely to turn the spotlight on Goldman, which could be one of the biggest potential beneficiaries because it makes sizable profits from proprietary trading and runs many private equity and hedge funds. Goldman traders are known for taking large trading positions, even as they manage trades for clients.