aged 55 and over a chance to take early retirement packages.

The offer forms part of the bank's reorganisation under current president and chief executive officer John Tugwell, and comes on the heels of some top level job cuts.

Spokesman Andrew Burnett-Herkes said employees eligible for early retirement have until the end of October to decide whether they wanted to stay on at the bank, or voluntarly take the retirement package. Some incentives had been added to make the package more attractive, he said.

The bank did not have any figures on how many staff were eligible for early retirement or what kind of target job cuts it was attempting to reach through the programme.

"We are doing it to open up career paths for younger people who may be blocked by those above them,'' Mr. Burnett-Herkes said.

Last week The Royal Gazette reported the bank had cut the jobs of Butterfield's international manager Malcolm Mitchell, and three others.

Private banking manager John Faiella was also let go. Other senior executives have also resigned from the bank. These include Steve Marklew, who was head of marketing, and Bruce Sharpe, who was senior manager of corporate finance.

Since becoming chief executive officer earlier this year Mr. Tugwell has closed the bank's 23-staff Singapore office, cut 50 people from the London office and fired three executive vice presidents from the core corporate team.

Mr. Tugwell suddenly announced last month that he was leaving the bank after only 15 weeks into his tenure.

John Tugwell