News stories about Bermuda made Government's traditional visit to the Risk and Insurance Management Society annual conference yesterday more important than ever this year, according to Premier Alex Scott.

In recent months, Bermuda's name has been linked to insurance and reinsurance companies being investigated by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and other regulatory bodies.

While Government will leave the independent Bermuda Monetary Authority to pursue any reviews required, Premier Scott told this newspaper yesterday that his traditional visit to RIMS this year was very important in light of the stories because “we are mindful that our reputation is what we trade in”.

“This year we wanted to be here to not only welcome those who have been our customers and clients over the years but to tell those new players it is certainly timely and appropriate for them to continue to show interest in Bermuda and that we are going to continue to be a leader in this industry.

“Just to have the Minister of Finance and Premier here to say that and show the flag in that way says that it is not just a side issue. This a main stay of our operation and economy and we do get good response from those we meet on these trips to RIMS. RIMS is most important for us.”

The Premier added that concern about the investigations meant Government would support the most rigourous review of whatever is required.

He expects however that people will see that Bermuda has set the pace and followed the protocols to the law. “We think that Bermuda's regulatory regime is going to see us well.

"In actual fact, it may prove that we have managed ourselves in such a way that the individual companies may have difficulty but the country won't.”

Premier Scott conducted his walkabout around the RIMS exhibit hall yesterday with his wife Olga, Finance Minister Paula Cox, Bermuda Monetary Authority chairman Cheryl-Ann Lister and others.

The tradition of the premier walking about the exhibit hall dates back to the 1980s when then Premier Sir John Swan took his first tour.

As traditional, RIMS executives including president Nancy Chambers greeted the Bermuda group on arrival and then walked the tour from their own RIMS booth to the Bermuda booth. After a brief stop for photos there, Premier Scott dropped by to bid hello to Butterfield Bank head Alan Thompson.

From there, he visited the ACE, XL and Bank of Bermuda booths then continued onto Lloyd's of London for coffee and a quick glimpse at accident policies that Lloyd's had written for The Beatles decades ago.

The Premier also paid courtesy calls to Caribbean competitors including Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and Barbados.

Coincidentally, Barbados Minister of Industry and International Business Dale Marshall was at the booth when the group arrived. Later, Minister Marshall told this newspaper that Barbados found it unfortunate that a US-based investigation “which is entirely within the purview of the us can be seen by some commentators as casting a negative light on domiciles like Barbados”.

“Naturally, there would be some impact but we're confident that really our reputation will withstand this,” he continued. “There is absolutely no element in which Barbados is culpable in anyway or in which Barbados has fallen short of any of the prudential standards required.”

The minister added that Barbados is looking forward to continued growth in terms of captive companies from the US coming to Barbados.

While Bermuda leads the industry, Barbados sees itself as being a key competitor in the sector “Bermuda has a solid reputation but so does Barbados”.

“There are areas in which they have been leaders in the financial services sector and we are looking forward to challenging that position but we know it will take time,” Mr. Marshall explained.

“It is difficult when you have a domicile that is so ensconced in a leadership position, but we've tried to make sure a lot of our domestic issues are in order, we're continuing to expand our treaty network globally.”

He concluded: “And we're positioning ourselves really to be able to provide a platform for all companies doing international business to see Barbados as a first choice and not as a second or third choice.”

Last night Premier Scott, Minister Cox and the Bermuda Insurance Development Council also hosted The Bermuda Reception. The annual event took place at the Ritz-Carlton and hundreds of industry executives were in attendance.