Goldman Sachs’ board is expected to come under fire at the bank’s annual investor meeting on today, with shareholders likely to question its directors’ independence from management and oversight role before the recent scandal surrounding alleged fraud by the firm, according to the Financial Times.

The meeting will offer investors and small shareholders the chance to grill the 12 directors for the first time since US regulators filed civil fraud charges against Goldman over a mortgage-backed security. Goldman denies the charge that it sold a collateralized debt obligation while simultaneously getting hedge fund investor John Paulson to choose securities for the CDO that he intended to short-sell.

Several shareholders’ lawsuits, which Goldman has disclosed, have questioned the board’s independence and faulted it for failing to disclose that it had received a Wells notice – notification that a company could face enforcement action – from the SEC.

As previously reported in Family Wealth Report, the troubles at Goldman Sachs have raised the issue of whether wealth management clients of the Wall Street titan might be tempted to defect to other firms if the firm becomes embroiled in legal wrangles and if the SEC charges are made to stick.