sector could be before Parliament by the end of the year.

But Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul said yesterday that Government would not be rushed into making changes in the wake of claims that Government was falling "further and further'' behind in regulating the industry.

His comments came in reponse to investment manager and Bermuda Monetary Authority director Mr. E.T. (Bob) Richards, who this week called for more protection for local investment companies and investors.

Mr. Richards, president of Bermuda Asset Management and chairman of GulfStream Securities, argued in a Rotary speech that safeguards, needed to protect the public interest, were not in place and people without any real experience could set up business as investment advisers.

Mr. Richards' company has been involved in managing the assets of numerous pension plans, including a Government programme and one from the Bermuda Telephone Company Limited.

Dr. Saul indicated that licencing requirements for investment firms would be just one of the matters under consideration.

He said Mr. Richards, as a director of the BMA, would be aware that the BMA have the final say in making recommendations to the Finance Ministry.

Further, he said that Mr. Richards would be aware of the recent speech by Authority chairman, Mr. Mansfield (Jim) Brock, and a Royal Gazette interview with general manager, Malcolm Williams, that indicated changes were in the wind.

In responding to the charge from Mr. Richards that Government was falling behind, Dr. Saul said: "That's not true. A complex and highly sophisticated report is currently being circulated to the investment industry, the banks and other financial institutions on the supervision of financial institutions, and specifically referring to the Bermuda Stock Exchange and the concept of internationalising it.'' The report was prepared by a Commonwealth Secretariat official and Government is seeking commment from a number of quarters before making final decisions.

In addition, there were new regulations proposed by the BMA that Dr. Saul said Mr. Richards would be aware of.

The Minister said that he would not be pressed on a time frame.

"I'm not going to rush this. When we do this, it must be done right. It will probably be one of the first pieces of legislation that we will deal with in the next Parliament.''