planned merger between the real estate, mortgage and finance divisions of the Bank of Bermuda and L.P. Gutteridge.

The news comes as the Progressive Labour Party claimed "it borders on extortion to have a major player like the Bank of Bermuda Limited exert such a dominant influence in the real estate market''.

The bank and LPG announced on Monday they were merging their deposit companies and real estate arms into a new company called Bermuda Home. The company would have 50 percent of the Island's mortgage market and assets of $470 million.

Minister of Finance the Hon. David Saul, said: "The Ministry of Finance knew nothing about the whole proposal until the day it was announced.

"Mr. (Donald) Lines (president of the Bank of Bermuda) told me that morning and then went to tell Malcolm Williams about it before making the announcement at the press conference.'' Mr. Williams, the general manager of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, said the Authority had been advised of the creation of Bermuda Home prior to the announcement, but he would not say exactly when they knew.

"It is not always possible for those involved to give advanced notice of all the details,'' he said.

Mr. Williams pointed out that it was not unusual for officials to want to have a closer look at the details of any proposal.

"The Authority certainly gave support to the proposal, but the details should always be studied as they relate to The Banks Act, the Deposit Companies Act and other legislation.'' The Finance Minister has now asked the Authority to study the details and offer an opinion.

Dr. Saul stated: "I've asked the Attorney General for his comments on the legality of the merger and asked the BMA for their opinions.

"I want to make sure that everything is kosher, everything is above board. I have no reason to believe that it isn't.'' The Minister said there had been no flood of complaints to his Ministry from any sector of the business community, but he wished to understand the opinions of both the Attorney General and the BMA.

Meanwhile, the PLP, in a prepared statement released by Shadow Finance Minister, Mr. Eugene Cox, said: "This is just another instance where the interests of the little man play second fiddle to the interests of big brother and big business.

"There is no balance of power to dilute this undue influence the bank will be able to have in the real estate market.'' Mr. Cox called for truth in lending laws and anti-trust legislation to protect the consumer and said the issue underscored the Opposition's Budget statement that the BMA should operate more in the capacity of an independent Central Bank.

"We called for a BMA which was independent of the sphere of influence of the Finance Minister -- not a BMA to merely rubber-stamp the bank's decisions, which were not necessarily, as in the present case, in the best interests of the whole of Bermuda, as opposed to private sectional interests.'' The statement also said: "It is curious that realtor and Minister of Works and Engineering, the Hon. Leonard Gibbons said LPG previously opposed the bank oeprating in the real estate market.

"Certainly, it raises questions as to whether the bank has an equal opportunity policy towards businesses generally.'' Deal gets bank out of real estate business -- Page 12.