chairman and CEO James Stanard has plans to buy shares.

The global provider of reinsurance and insurance issued a formal notice that Mr. Stanard and other officers of the company could make purchases of common shares in the near future in conjunction with the company's previously announced stock repurchase programme.

Hearty named to head Lehman Re The head of investment bank Lehman Brothers' joint venture between its public finance group and its Bermuda-based reinsurance business was named yesterday.

The firm announced its municipal bond managing director James Hearty would shift his office to Boston to take up his new responsibility of heading up the municipal end of Lehman Re, a property and casualty reinsurer.

Mr. Hearty, who has commuted from his Boston home to the firm's New York office for many years, will also maintain his current public finance duties.

The company issued a statement that said many Lehman Re customers were municipalities seeking to buy reinsurance to protect against damage.

And Mr. Hearty's expertise in the public finance arena would provide a "good tie-in'' with that business formed last June.

EMERALD FINANCIAL TO HOST SEMINAR CON Emerald Financial to host seminar Emerald Financial Group is hosting a free information seminar on pension planning investment strategies next Wednesday.

Guest speakers from the consulting group of one of the world's leading investment advisory companies, Salomon Smith Barney, will inform both employers and employees of their options.

The evening in the Adams Lounge of the Hamilton Princess will begin at 5.30 p.m.