The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) has moved into a new home at 30 Victoria Street.

The Exchange, which last year celebrated its 40th anniversary, had previously been based in Washington Mall.

BSX CEO Greg Wojciechowski said the move came about after the lease had expired on the previous premises.

“We have a little less space here, but it’s right down the street from the Bermuda Monetary Authority and there are a lot of synergies between us,” Mr Wojciechowski said. “You could say it’s becoming ‘Regulatory Row’.”

The new premises, on the third floor of the KeyTech building, looks immediately more corporate than the former home, which was situated above a shopping mall. The new signage helps to create a business-like impression.

“The landlords have been great and they’ve done a fantastic job of creating the right image for a national stock exchange,” Mr Wojciechowski said.

“When someone comes to the stock exchange they get a sense of the sophistication of the business environment, because it’s a significant piece of the plumbing of the capital market.

“That impression is important. We’re not the New York Stock Exchange, but what we do is service the domestic capital market, which is a driver of wealth and job creation in this community.”

Mr Wojciechowski returned last week from an insurance-linked securities (ILS) conference in New York. Of the 450 who attended, he estimated that up to 50 were from Bermuda, including representatives from law firms and insurers, as well as BMA CEO Jeremy Cox.

ILS, which include catastrophe bonds, allow capital market investors exposure to the catastrophe risk market. They offer attractive yields, but the possibility of losing principal if specified events of a predetermined scale take place.

The BSX has listed 27 ILS with a value of more than $3.5 billion, since the BMA introduced a new ‘special purpose insurer’ classification in late 2009.

Mr Wojciechowski is hopeful that the ILS business will keep on coming, especially after speakers at the conference predicted a significant increase in ILS issuance this year, possibly as high as $7 billion.