WASHINGTON— Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is lobbying hard to kill a provision in financial industry overhaul legislation requiring big banks to sell off their derivatives-trading businesses, and rival banks are welcoming the help, shrugging off attacks on the firm by lawmakers and securities regulators.

Goldman's lobbying could put Democrats and the White House, which is lukewarm on the provision, in a difficult position. With congressional elections looming in November, lawmakers don't want to appear supportive of Goldman or Wall Street.

But Goldman's leadership is less concerned about politics than the provision itself, known as "section 106." The nation's five largest banks together earned $23 billion from derivatives trading in 2009, and are working separately and together to defeat the provision.

"I don't think political Kabuki theatre is having any impact on the ability to get meetings and be heard" in Congress, says a person familiar with Goldman's strategy. "The point of the matter from their standpoint is they can be heard...Nobody's being treated like lepers."

A non-Goldman banking executive agreed that working together to kill the provision was a "no-brainer."