elected for a second term to the boards of directors of the International Insurance Society (IIS).

Mr. William G. Poortvliet, chairman of the board of directors of the IIS and chairman of international insurance companies of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, formally welcomed Mr. Stempel at the Society's 29th annual meeting held last month in Tokyo.

Mr. Stempel, an American who has lived in Bermuda for many years, is vice chairman of American International Group, Inc.

He is also chairman of a number of AIG's insurance subsidiaries around the world, including American International Company, in Bermuda; American Reinsurance Company, in Hong Kong; and Philippine American Life Insurance Company.

He began his insurance career as an underwriter with American International Underwriters in New York in 1938.

A founding member of the International Companies Division of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Stempel was its first deputy chairman in 1972 and later served as chairman in 1973 and 1974.

The International Insurance Society is a non-profit, self-governing corporation that has approximately 1,200 members from over 80 nations.

The Society was founded in 1965 and is managed and governed by leading executives and academics from world markets.

Its annual seminar, which will be held next June in Madrid, focuses on issues of concern to the insurance and related industries worldwide.

The Society's Honors Programme recognises those in the insurance field who have made a significant impact on the ability of the insurance mechanism to serve society.