If Hans-Joerg Rudloff is on Island, he said it is usually to attend a board meeting of high-profile Thyssen-Bornemisza Group.

Mr. Rudloff, who is also chairman of Marcuard Capital (Bermuda) Ltd., is a formidable figure in the financial services world as head of a leading investment bank Barclays Capital. And in a wide-ranging interview, Mr. Rudloff spoke with The Royal Gazette on the state of the financial markets, tax issues, the economic implications of war, Bermuda's place as a jurisdiction for financial services companies and more. But when it came to the subject of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Group, with control of the Thyssen family fortune and business interests estimated to be worth several billion dollars, Mr. Rudloff kept mum.

Control of the billion dollar empire was handed from father to son - the late Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza to his eldest son Georg - in the 1980s when it was vested in a Bermuda trust that named Georg, often called Heini Junior, as principal beneficiary.

But in 1996 there was a bitter falling out between the Baron and his son over money. The Baron claimed he was owed $232 million in arrears with inflation and loss of value and that he wanted to wrest back control of the Thyssen empire.

The matter finally came to court in 1999, but in February of this year - and after nearly three years locked in legal battle - an out of court settlement was reached between the parties. Although the exact terms of the settlement were not disclosed it was reported that the Baron, 81, who was seriously ill by this time, received an annuity of an undisclosed sum and control of the business remained with Heini Jr. The Baron passed away in late April. With that bitter chapter closed, Mr. Rudloff was asked if board meetings were happier occasions now but he would not be drawn on the subject. "No comment," was all Mr. Rudloff said, and with a telling `wouldn't you like to know' smile, changed the topic of conversation.

Later in the interview, Mr. Rudloff, although speaking in general terms, did underscore that once a trust was set up, control should rest with trustees. "The Bermuda trust structure, which is actually the English trust structure, has always been a sought after structure," Mr. Rudloff said and added that if there was talk or proposals of change to that structure, it would be to ensure that it was more strictly adhered to.

"England will preserve the trust structure but they will apply it in a stricter sense. In other words, once you put your assets in a trust you will not dispose of these assets and it is the trustees that will control the assets.

"Trusts are now being applied the way they should be applied. If you put your assets in a trust you lose the ability to act on behalf of the trust," Mr. Rudloff said.