Joseph Collins, a lawyer for Refco, said that with the passage of time it is difficult to determine whether the Springdale office had such a rule. But he said that generally the decision whether or not to take on a customer with limited resources would be up to the individual broker. Consulting Blair

White House officials acknowledged today that Mr. Blair was consulted on many of the commodities trades and was viewed as an important financial adviser, but they said other people, who they could not identify, were also consulted. A senior aide to Mrs. Clinton also said today that she occasionally spoke to her broker about the trades.

But brokers in the Springdale office of Refco where Mrs. Clinton executed the trades, including the one she describes as her personal broker, said in interviews in recent weeks that they have no recollection of ever talking with her about the trades.

Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Blair have said that they used Robert L. (Red) Bone, the broker who founded the Springdale office of Refco, a Chicago commodities firm, to execute the trades. But Mr. Bone, who worked at Tyson for 13 years until 1973, insisted in several interviews this month that he has no recollection of ever trading for Mrs. Clinton or talking to her about commodities trades.

"I can't recall ever dealing with the Clintons," Mr. Bone said in an interview on March 9. After Mr. Blair suggested that Mr. Bone was trying to protect the Clintons' privacy and recommended that a reporter try to talk to the broker again, Mr. Bone again insisted that he had no recollection of ever trading for the Clintons. Mr. Bone could not be reached for comment tonight.

During the 1970's, Mr. Bone had been disciplined by regulators and settled charges that he tried to corner the egg market and that he had failed to keep proper records. Those accusations did not involve Mrs. Clinton's account. Mr. Bone's lawyer in both the regulatory proceedings and other legal disputes over the last 15 years has been Mr. Blair.

According to the White House, Mrs. Clinton's commodity account was a type in which the client must personally approve each trade.