The Bermuda Monetary Authority will relocate next week from its Burnaby House location to a new address up the block.

The 35-year-old regulatory body, which was established to oversee the Island's banking and monetary affairs, has seen an increase in its responsibilities in recent years to include oversight for the Island's insurance sector. It only moved into the Green Shutters building on Burnaby Street in 1997, but a spokesperson says that the staff roster is now too large for the building.

"Due to the expansion and the addition of insurance division a year and a half ago we are bursting at the seams," the spokeswoman said. "There is no room for the additional staff we need to bring on."

The BMA will split its staff between the headquarters at 31 Reid Street and another building a couple doors over. The move is just an interim measure as it wants to buy a building that can accommodate the 75 current staff plus future hires.

The spokeswoman said: "We still need to hire more people as the requirements of international regulation are putting tremendous pressure on us. We have a need for all types of insurance analysts and investment analysts, those are the critical areas."

The BMA is continuing to assess the future of the Burnaby Street building which it owns.

To facilitate this week's move both the new and old BMA locations will be closed on Thursday and Friday. The BMA says that everything from its phones to its web site and fax lines will not be operational on those dates. An emergency phone line will be operating and is 295-2572. The BMA will resume services on Monday December 6 when it reopens in its new Reid Street home.