HarBSX Services Limited has become the Bermuda Stock Exchange’s latest listing sponsor.

James Gibbons, chair of the Harbour Group, rang the ceremonial bell on Thursday at Exchange House on Pitts Bay Road in Hamilton, accompanied by his son, John Gibbons, a trust manager at the company.

“HarBSX is pleased to have joined the BSX as a listing sponsor,” James Gibbons said. “The Harbour Group has been providing corporate and trust administration services to the ILS market for many years.

“Our ability to act as a listing sponsor for catastrophe bonds and other insurance-linked securities will greatly enhance the scope of our product offering to our clients”.

John Gibbons said: “We want to raise our profile at a time when the traditional private client business is maybe not what it was.

“We also want to promote Bermuda and a local Bermuda business, like the BSX, wherever we possibly can.”

His father said the challenges of becoming a listing sponsor on the BSX were just working through setting up the systems.

“We still had to look to the regulator for what we do in terms of anti-money laundering,” he said. “It is the grunt work in terms of policies and procedures.

“We worked with the BSX for over three months and they came back with comments. We gave them further responses, and here we are.”

He said the BSX HarBSX operation integrates into his own, but they have hired one specialist who will be in charge of leading the listings.

Greg Wojciechowski, chief executive officer of the BSX, said: “As we continue to expand our debt listing business and work within the ILS space, we look forward to working with HarBSX in providing internationally recognised listing services and support to their clients.”

He said adding the new listing showed that the BSX was still growing.

“It continues the momentum of the business,” he said. “It is good to see our local financial services community are sharing our vision. We are continuing to have a platform to develop the domestic capital market.”

Mr Wojciechowski said his listings team is busy right now, particularly with insurance securities.

“We see some international debt securities coming to us,” Mr Wojciechowski said. “The more we externally market the more we are attracting an interest.”

He said in the past, the BSX has not been front of mind, and they are working to change that.

HarBSX Services Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Edmund Gibbons Limited group of companies and a member of the Harbour Group of Companies.

They are licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority to provide fund administration, insurance management, trust services, and corporate services.

They provide bespoke and comprehensive services to families, institutions, funds, and global corporate organisations representing various industry sectors.