Goldman denies report of "emergency" meeting

A Goldman spokesman said it hosted 30 private equity and hedge fund firms for a dinner Tuesday, a routine client meeting. The event, hosted by veteran investment banker Milton Berlinski and co-President Gary Cohn, had been scheduled three weeks ago.

"There was no secret, emergency meeting to discuss the Geithner plan," Goldman spokesman Lucas van Praag told Reuters. "We clearly could not have called a meeting. We'd need to be psychic."

In an emailed statement, Goldman said: "Three weeks ago, we issued an invitation to a large group of our investing clients to discuss market conditions, including a presentation on the macroeconomic environment. The fact that the dinner took place on the same day as the Treasury Department's announcement was a coincidence."

On Thursday, Charles Gasparino, a CNBC on-air editor, reported that Goldman had convened the 20 largest investment firms for an "emergency discussion" of the Geithner plan within hours of the plan's presentation to the public.

Attendees expressed worries about the plan and suggested alternatives for reviving the financial markets, Gasparino reported on CNBC.

"He was completely wrong. The spin was wrong. The facts are wrong. The implications of what he's suggesting are also wrong," said van Praag.

(Reporting by Joseph A. Giannone; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)