creditors seeking money from Bermuda Fire & Marine for three months pending the outcome of an investigation into the company's finances.

The measures will give joint provisional liquidators Mr. Gareth Hughes and Mr.

Anthony Joaquin breathing space while they carry out an accurate financial analysis of Bermuda Fire & Marine, which collapsed six weeks ago.

An application to wind-up Bermuda Fire & Marine was adjourned until March, 1994, by Bermuda Supreme Court last Friday.

If, at that time, the company is found to be insolvent it will formally be put into liquidation, said Mr. Hughes.

"We are continuing to investigate the financial aspects of the company and are investigating whether a scheme of arrangement is in the best interests of the company,'' said Mr. Hughes, a London-based partner of accountancy firm Ernst & Young.

An informal committee of creditors has been appointed by the joint provisional liquidators, he added.

The committee comprises seven people, including a representative of the Policyholders' Protection Board, which is based in England.

The other six members who have been invited by the joint provisional liquidators to sit on the committee are major creditors of Bermuda Fire & Marine.

"We will have the first meeting with the committee this week to discuss where we stand at the moment,'' said Mr. Hughes.

Mr. Hughes and Mr. Joaquin, a partner of Ernst & Young in Bermuda, have been looking into Bermuda Fire & Marine's finances since the firm's directors applied for a voluntary winding-up order on November 2, 1993.

Immediately after they were appointed, the provisional liquidators issued a statement saying that, at first glance, it appeared that Bermuda Fire & Marine had "a positive net worth'' based on its 1992 draft financial statements, although doubts remain about the accuracy of these figures due to problems obtaining information from London.

Some US creditors have said they will be surprised if the company has enough assets to meet its liabilities.

They have also indicated they are likely to take legal action to recover any debts that are not paid.

Of particular concern to creditors is the 1991 split of the company's profitable domestic business and its loss-making international division.

Mr. Greg Wojciechowski, project manager for The Bermuda Stock Exchange, said yesterday Bermuda Fire & Marine's common stock, which was suspended from trading on October 29, has been delisted from the Exchange, effective today.

Mr. Wojciechowski said the delisting was normal for a company in the process of being wound-up.

MR. GARETH HUGHES MR. ANTHONY JOAQUIN.