Advisers for brokerage Refco Inc. met on Saturday in an emergency meeting to decide how to save the embattled company that is teetering on the edge of collapse. The advisers met to discuss what Refco units are salvageable and what units may have to file for bankruptcy, or be dissolved altogether, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Saving Refco's main futures and commodities trading operation is the major focus, sources said. The company also has a broker-dealer and a prime brokerage unit, which were shut down this week. The meeting comes less than a week after Refco said it had put CEO Phillip Bennett on leave after discovering that a firm he controlled owed the company $430 million. Refco shares fell 45 percent on Monday, when the news was first announced. Bennett was charged with securities fraud on Wednesday. Refco shares plummeted on the New York Stock Exchange, where they are currently halted. Pre-market trades on Friday indicated Refco's stock at $7.90, representing a 72 percent plunge from where its shares opened on Monday. --more 2223 Local Time 1923 GMT
