A leading Cayman Islands lawyer said yesterday Independence was the best course for Bermuda.

Mr. Anthony Travers also saw no reason why international businesses would take flight if Bermuda cut ties with Britain.

And he scotched suggestions the Cayman Islands -- a British dependent territory with no Independence movement -- would set out to cash in on any financial uncertainty in Bermuda.

"Quite honestly I think there is some over-sensitivity in Bermuda over the Independence issue.

"It is very easy to start thinking the sky is falling in, and easy to conjure up conspiracy theories.'' Mr. Travers is a senior partner with the Cayman Islands' biggest law firm, Maples and Calder.

He is also past president of the country's law society, and a member of the Financial Secretary's private sector consultative committee in the Cayman Islands.

Some of his comments were reinforced by those of Mr. Lyndon Martin, co-ordinator of marketing and promotions with the Cayman Islands government.

He said the Cayman Islands had never had an aggressive marketing policy.

Mr. Martin admitted the country had highlighted its harmonious relations with the United Kingdom during a recent tour of the world's financial centres in New York, London, and Hong Kong.

But such promotion had never been linked to what was happening in Bermuda.

Mr. Martin said the Cayman Islands enjoyed constant growth in its business sector.

Asked, however, whether his country was reaping the rewards of business uncertainty in Bermuda, he said: "There has been no change I can identify. I can't see any change. Company registration has always grown at a constant rate.'' Mr. Martin and Mr. Travers were speaking in the wake of fears expressed in Bermuda's business community about the impact of the Independence debate.

Bank of Bermuda president Mr. Charles Vaughan-Johnson told The Royal Gazette recently: "In the sense that one sees a lot of business going to the Cayman Islands, and to the extent that one thinks of Bermuda as the prime offshore jurisdiction in terms of quality in every way, then one has to reach the inevitable conclusion that for some reason the business is not coming here but is going to Cayman.'' Mr. Travers accepted there was widespread awareness in the Cayman Islands about the referendum in Bermuda, and the Green Paper on Independence had been circulated.

But Mr. Travers, who attended the recent tour of financial centres, said it was "way too early'' to say whether business in his country had benefited from any uncertainty in Bermuda.

He also stressed there was no necessary correlation between Independence and financial instability.

In addition, Mr. Travers continued, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda had historically been magnets for different types of business.

The Cayman Islands was a centre for major institutions -- unlike Bermuda.

"In my opinion the best thing that could happen in Bermuda is that they have a referendum on Independence and they vote to become independent at the earliest possible opportunity, thereby putting the issue behind them.

"The worst thing that can happen to Bermuda is to defeat the referendum by a small percentage, say by a 55 to 45 percent vote, which will ensure the issue continues to simmer and probably be picked up by the Opposition party at the next general election.'' Mr. John Redman, acting editor of the Cayman Islands' only daily paper, Caymanian Compass, which has a circulation of 13,000, said the country's business sector was constantly expanding.

And last year had enjoyed the best growth in a decade.

Mr. Redman said Independence in Bermuda was viewed by some businessmen as a potential "windfall.'' "I am not sure it would be correct to say the country is capitalising on the Independence issue.'' Mr. Redman said his paper had not carried any stories about spin-offs from Bermuda going independent -- or just discussing the issue.