BF&M chief executive officer Glenn Titterton conceded that he could not have relied on his own knowledge to interpret actuarial reports when he assumed his position at Bermuda Fire in 1991.

The admission came yesterday in the Supreme Court as barrister Clare Montgomery QC, who is representing liquidators Ernst & Young, began her cross-examination of Mr. Titterton.

"Your very first step in satisfying yourself that you could carry out this function would have been to consider the reports you had to receive from Tillinghast, and to satisfy yourself that you understood them,'' Ms Montgomery suggested.

"My understanding at the time was that I was entitled to rely on solid professional advice,'' Mr. Titterton answered.

"Before you signed this, what experience did you have in settling loss reserves?'' Ms Montgomery asked. Mr. Titterton said that he had none.

Mr. Titterton said he had not needed to read the Tillinghast reports in their entirety because of the quality of his advice, and the briefings he received from Bermuda Fire accountant Irmgard Viera. Ms Montgomery pointed out that Mrs. Viera had been in the job for ten months at that time.

"I suggest that before you ever took up this appointment at the very least you must have sat down and satisfied yourself that you could understand the audit process,'' she said.

Mr. Titterton answered: "I relied on Irmgard Viera'', to which Ms Montgomery fired back: "She had no actuarial experience.'' "Neither did I,'' Mr. Titterton said.

"So it was a case of the blind leading the blind?'' said Ms Montgomery.

Mr. Titterton said he had been very comfortable to rely on Tillinghast and the actuaries of Cooper & Lines.

Ms Montgomery also reviewed Mr. Titterton's meetings in 1990 with representatives of JP Morgan, who presented advice on minimising Bermuda Fire's deterioration in international business.

Mr. Titterton agreed that JP Morgan felt the company's international books were unstable, but he said in his view the company's management waited for Tillinghast to clarify some aspects of the Morgan presentation.

Elizabeth Gloster QC, who leads the corporate defendant team, objected to a number of points in Ms Montgomery's questioning at this time.

Mr. Titterton agreed that he had understood Morgan to mean that further losses were to come and the company should minimise its international exposure. He was insistent, however, that he used these same words with a different meaning during his own presentations to Bermuda Fire's group management.