New York, NY —

A major Wall Street bank is in crisis, accused by the government of bilking investors. Goldman faces a civil suit from the Securities and Exchange Commission, reports of an investigation by the Department of Justice, and a growing chorus of voices questioning whether they can be trusted. This morning the leaders of Goldman Sachs will seek to reassure investors at the firm's annual shareholder meeting. When the doors open at 32 Old Slip, near South Street Seaport, only shareholders and press will be allowed inside. But the world outside will pay close attention to how Goldman Sachs responds to the mounting criticism of the firm. Eric Dezenhall, author of the book "Damage Control," consults for corporate clients that run into trouble. He says Goldman's image problem is serious. "Never in the history of capitalism has anybody convinced people that a cabal, if you will, of bankers earning obscene amounts of money is good for everybody," Dezenhall says. Government regulators believe Goldman's high-earning bankers actually did a lot of harm, and filed suit against the bank. The SEC recently charged Goldman Sachs with fraud in connection with the structuring and marketing of a complicated financial product called a synthetic CDO in April of 2007. Few people understand those types of financial products, even in the world of finance. In the question-and-answer portion of today's shareholder meeting, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein could face questions about the deal. And about Goldman's share price, which is off about 23 percent since the suit was filed three weeks ago. Blankfein is in the midst of a rare public relations blitz, after a grueling hours-long hearing on Capitol Hill. In an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS and Bloomberg TV last week, Blankfein said that Goldman acted as a middleman, a so-called "market-maker", brokering transactions between savvy, experienced parties. "People got the risk they sought and, again, when I talk about people, these are all sophisticated institutions, and didn't do well," Blankfein said. But some Goldman clients see things differently. Chriss Street is the treasurer-tax collector of Orange County, Calif. For years, Goldman has helped the county borrow billions by issuing bonds. But now a relationship based on trust is in question. Street wants the county to reconsider keeping Goldman as an underwriter. "I want to know how Goldman Sachs, in the future, would handle our offerings -- what level of disclosure. I think, quite frankly, in the past, people had too much confidence and turned over too much authority. I'd like them to be much more transparent," Street says. Transparency. Crisis management consultant Dezenhall says Goldman should make a show of openness to reassure nervous investors. "There's going to have to be some understanding of what are the new parameters in terms of the type of risks Goldman is willing to take and not to take," Dezenhall says. One option that's on the table today: a motion to split the jobs of Chairman and CEO. Last year, another embattled financial firm, Bank of America, did exactly that.