Bank of Bermuda?s chief executive officer believes that printing lists of shareholders and details of who owns what at the bank is ?very distasteful?.

In an interview last month, Henry Smith, who has 336,666 shares in the bank (including options that could be vested in 60 days) and an untold number of options, but who has listed only 8,337 on the share register said it was not in the best interests of shareholders.

?Some shareholders will want to know, out of curiosity perhaps, who the big shareholders are,? he said.

?One of the nice things, frankly, about doing business in Bermuda and places like Bermuda, is that we don?t have to publish everybody?s holdings.

?Personally I find the listing of people?s private information. the listing of shareholdings in the Bank of Bermuda in the newspaper, very distasteful.?

This not easily accessed document is a public record, but is held behind closed doors on the sixth floor, costs $5 for every viewing and visitors seem to be actively discouraged from dropping in without an appointment.

Last month when asked if it would not be in the best interest of shareholders to reveal who held what number of the shares, Mr. Smith said it was not the bank?s policy to give out such information, although a search of the share register will reveal those who are invested in the bank in their own name.

He added that shareholders needed to have certain information to enable them to make an informed decision, but said that knowing who had what shares was not central to making a decision on the bank?s sale.

He said it is public information, but it is just not very Bermudian to do that.

He said: ?What would be of interest to shareholders would be if there was somebody with a large enough interest to swing the vote. And the answer is no, there is not. This is a very widely held organisation.?

When the head of corporate communications, Peter Smith, was asked for a breakdown of what the executive officers and directors own ? in total 2.1 million shares (including options that could be vested within 60 days) or 7.2 percent - was told it would not reveal that information.

When asked how many shares and options were owned by Mr. Smith, the request met with a similar answer.

?There is no way of knowing how many shares Henry Smith has,? said Peter Smith. ?And there is no right for anyone to know that information.?