The Bank of Bermuda will today list its shares on the NASDAQ, but chief executive Henry Smith gave assurances that it will not be taken over by a larger foreign bank because of strict rules put in place by the Government.

The bank will become the first local Bermuda financial organisation to list on a foreign exchange and the move will pave the way for its continued expansion by raising extra capital, when needed.

"This is an important achievement for Bank of Bermuda," said Mr. Smith. "When necessary, we need to be able to raise capital at competitive rates to strengthen ourselves through acquisition or make substantial investments in new business and technology.

"Listing Bank of Bermuda shares on NASDAQ is therefore a critical but very natural step for us to take. We already have strong links with the US through our New York office, and our headquarters in Bermuda are less than two hours flying time away from New York."

The bank, which will be a secondary listing on the NASDAQ trading under the ticker symbol BBDA, has no immediate plans to issue any more shares - so any trading will be existing shareholders selling their stocks.

"Anyone can buy them (the shares)," said Mr. Smith. "But our exemption we received from 60/40 has some very strict conditions attached to it and one of them is that no one person or entity can buy more than a certain amount or a certain percentage of our shares without receiving the permission of the Finance Minister."

When asked if there was a possibility of a Chase Manhattan coming in and swallowing up the bank - one of the fears often expressed when the bank had talked about floating in the past - Mr. Smith said: "We hope not. The Minister of Finance may have something to say about that."

Mr. Smith added: "We are first and foremost a Bermudian company with a firm commitment to the local community." The NASDAQ listing is the culmination of five years' of work.

The bank had been working on the listing for years before it got its exemption from the 60/40 ownership rules in December 2000. The rules were to make sure that at least 60 percent of local companies were owned by locals or local organisations, but were not compatible with listing on a foreign exchange as there would be no way to track ownership on a global market.

The bank became the first financial organisation to get an exemption from the ownership rule and was closely followed by Bank of Butterfield and Bermuda Commercial Bank, but neither has stated any desire to list on NASDAQ in the near future.

Bank of Bermuda's exemption started the ball rolling for the NASDAQ listing and the bank has been working on compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission rules for over a year.

And as of today Bank of Bermuda shares can now be traded on either NASDAQ or the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

The bank said that with a listing on NASDAQ, Bank of Bermuda will be able to compete more effectively with other global financial institutions because it would be able to raise more capital.

However, the bank said that it was currently well capitalised and did not at the moment need to raise capital by issuing more shares on the stock market.

It said that it had successfully grown its international business from Bermuda and was a strong global competitor, with a network of offices in 15 of the world's key financial centres, including New York, and 3,000 staff around the world.

But it added that the limited size of the Bermuda capital market, was unable to supply the funds an institution the size of Bank of Bermuda may need to develop further.

"Being head-quartered in Bermuda has meant that we have always needed to look outside our own borders for growth," said Mr Smith. "Over half our employees work outside Bermuda, in Asia and Europe as well as North America. We are not, however, a typical bank. Our global reach is balanced by our relatively small size and niche focus. This enables us to leverage our key competitive advantages."The bank will now also be under closer scrutiny as analysts in following investment banks will monitor and advise on the sale of the bank's shares - Fox-Pitt, Kelton; Keefe, Bruyette & Woods; and Merrill Lynch.

Bank of Bermuda closed at $44.50, up 25 cents, but only 300 shares changed after trading was suspended during the afternoon before the announcement was made.