Refco Seeks to Pay CEO $685 Per Hour

Refco, the collapsed futures broker, has asked a U.S. bankruptcy court for permission to pay $685 an hour to Harrison Goldin, appointed as chief executive last month as the firm begins to wind up its affairs.

Goldin is senior managing director of Goldin Associates, which provides financial advisory, interim management, forensic investigation, and risk management consulting services.

Refco has also asked the court for permission to retain Goldin Associates as crisis managers, according to a court filing. The filing by law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, said: "The debtor's cases are large and extremely complex. The debtors need sophisticated executives who will guide them to a successful resolution of their complex Chapter 11 cases."

The firm has worked on other bankruptcy cases, including Drexel Burnham Lambert and Wood River Capital Management.

Goldin is also the founding chair and chairman emeritus of the Council of Institutional Investors and was New York City's comptroller between 1974 and 1989, helping restore the city's finances after it narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 1975.

Mark Slane from Goldin Associates would serve as chief restructuring officer and charge $550 per hour. Five other named executives would charge between $350 and $500 per hour.

If Goldin is retained, the firm will receive a retainer of $250,000. The filing said: "The debtors and Goldin do not seek approval, in any manner, of any success fee now for Goldin."

The filing said that retaining Goldin's firm is in the best interests of the company and its creditors and that the proposed fees are within the range of those for senior executive officers employed with companies of comparable size, value and reputation.

Refco filed for protection from creditors on October 17 after it emerged that former chief executive Philip Bennett had hidden $430m of debt. Its assets were later bought by Man Group, the U.K. alternative investment firm.