HSBC?s acquisition of the Bank of Bermuda may have caused Bermudians to rethink the benefits of local institutions being taken over by large foreign corporations, according to Wendell Emery who retires from Butterfield Bank next month after 39 years of service.

Mr. Emery, Butterfield Bank?s Executive Vice President of Operations and Information Technology, was interviewed by at the Bank?s executive offices in Hamilton yesterday.

After nearly four decades, Mr. Emery has seen the Bank expand from 200 locally based staff to 1,600 employees both in Bermuda and overseas. He believes there is still opportunity for the Bank to grow.

When asked if the Bank is considering an alliance with a major overseas banking institution Mr. Emery responded: ?The real issue is whether an acquisition or take-over can provide better returns for the shareholders.?

?Just because an organisation is doing well doesn?t necessarily mean an acquisition will improve the situation.?

?You have to ask yourself what would a big bank gain from acquiring a local bank in Bermuda, but having said that its a decision for the shareholders.?

?If you look at our recent results the Butterfield Bank is performing extremely well, so its hard to imagine our shareholders taking the risk of giving that up.?

?Bermudians have learned a lot from the HSBC acquisition of the Bank of Bermuda and clearly that experience would have an impact on any other acquisition, including other local banks.?

The senior executive said the controversial plan by HSBC/Bank of Bermuda to build a seven storey building on the site of the former Trimingham Brothers on Front Street, rejected by the Development Applications Board, has raised concerns about the future direction the Island.

He suggests that the benefits of globalisation are seen with more sober reflection by the community.

?If somebody like CityBank came along and said we are going to buy a bank in Bermuda, I am not sure the reaction would be the same reaction as when HSBC came in.?

?Rightly or wrongly there is an uproar over the plans for the Trimingham?s building, so I suspect the average Bermudain probably would not be supportive of another bank coming in.?

?Butterfield Bank has made a number of acquisitions to grow the Bank and those banks fit into our profile. Cayman has been outstanding, but all of the acquisitions have done well.?

?Growth locally is limited because the population is small but that has to be tempered by the growth in the financial services industry, if more insurance companies came in, then we will probably grow in Bermuda.?

Mr. Emery joined the Bank in 1967 after obtaining a degree in business administration and worked in increasingly senior positions throughout the Bank.

He spent 23 years working in Trust and Investments occupying progressively senior management positions at the former Butterfield Executor & Trustee Company ? a consolidation of what are now Butterfield Investment Services, Butterfield Asset Management and Butterfield Trust.

Mr. Emery also worked in International Banking and directed Corporate Banking, Retail Banking and Information Technology and completed a programme in management development at Harvard University in 1995.

He planned to stay with the Bank for only five years but having a warm affection for his co-workers throughout the organisation and the opportunities provided by a growing bank were too good to miss.

?I think banking and all of its components because it has gone beyond just banking - create opportunities for people at all levels if they come in with the right attitude,? he said.

?It doesn?t matter whether you are black, white or anything else, the Bank wants people who can perform well and people will soon realise if you can do that.?