As pressure to enact legislation that would crack down on corporate inversions - with a focus on companies that have moved to Bermuda - mounts, supporters of the Island are taking a more vocal role.

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Bermuda business leaders are crying foul and "don't blame us."

Bermuda lawyer Rod Attride-Stirling was quoted as saying amid the controversy: "You would think we are responsible for all the woes in America right now. I should do three Hail Marys or something," he said.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers managing partner Raymond Madeiros was also interviewed for the report and underscored that issue should be taken with the US tax code, not Bermuda: "We have done nothing as a country to encourage inversions. The problem is in the US," he said.

Mr. Madeiros also challenged the growing perception, and as reported increasingly in media reports, that the Island was a "mail drop".

He said: "That is a mistaken perception".

Meanwhile, on American shores Stanley Works CEO John Trani defended the company's decision to reincorporate to Bermuda.

The company was successful in securing shareholder approval for the move in a vote last month.

The decision brought fierce criticism from the media, politicians and Stanley Works employees and some shareholders.

The controversy prompted the company to announce it would stage a second vote.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires this week however Mr. Trani - who was visiting Washington to meet with legislators - was reportedly firm about the company's decision to create a parent company on the Island with the end result of, by estimates, a $30 million savings in US taxes.

When asked if he would have done anything differently, Mr. Trani defended the "Bermuda strategy" and said: "I probably would have done it earlier."