Bankers have a vested interest in many things ? the success of businesses they loan money to, home mortgage holders doing well enough to be able to pay off their loans, and a bank-issued credit card being the one you pull out on a shopping trip.

It is pretty basic: Bankers have an interest in customers using their interest and fee-based services. This is a story, however, of a banker with a broader vested interest ? in the community.

Butterfield Bank chief executive Alan Thompson is involved in a number of community initiatives and charitable programmes.

Mr. Thompson, an American who grew up on the West Coast and has been presiding over the Island?s oldest bank since 2002, moved here from a senior post with a leading Saudi Arabian bank.

He quickly became actively involved in this community: Mr. Thompson sits on a fundraising committee for the new hospital project, is on the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) board, and recently became a director of the Bermuda National Dance Foundation.

The bank understands that it does well when the community does well, Mr. Thompson told in an interview. His community involvement takes that into account but it is also something he personally wants to do.

The latest project to snap up Mr. Thompson for its board is the Waterfront Task Force, which is focused on overseeing plans for the redevelopment of Hamilton Harbour, as well as the dock fronts in Dockyard and St. George?s.

?We have a vested interest. Number one it is right outside our front door,? he said, with redevelopment along Hamilton Harbour being something that would take place directly opposite the bank?s Front Street headquarters.

?What happens out there is of real interest. And how it goes will, hopefully, have a positive impact in Bermuda.?

The committee has so far only met once, but the project plans to upgrade the ?underutilised? waterfront, Mr. Thompson said. While no set plan, or even timing for the project, has been set, it could ultimately see the area redeveloped to incorporate park space, restaurants, boutiques and a small hotel or conference centre.

And Mr. Thompson said someone is no doubt going to test the waters on building a casino ? a frequently raised idea for Bermuda, that so far hasn?t ever been agreed.

Of the 15 or so WTF board members, three are the heads of the Island?s lending banks: Mr. Thompson, Bank of Bermuda?s Phil Butterfield and Capital G?s James Gibbons.

Besides vested interests (Bank of Bermuda also has Front Street headquarters and is about to redevelop a second piece of prime waterfront property, the former Trimingham Brothers Ltd. department store), the banks may also have a financial role.

?I would envision the three lending banks would play some role in the financing,? Mr. Thompson said.

Mr. Thompson is also a trustee of the Bermuda Hospital Board Charitable Trust, as is Mr. Butterfield. That body has the task of financial oversight and fundraising for redevelopment of King Edward VIIMemorial Hospital.

A government bond could be offered to partially raise funds, while the Trust is charged with raising additional capital from the private sector to pay for what will be a costly project.

Mr. Thompson and ACE Limited chairman Brian Duperreault are co-chairs of the Trust?s campaign committee.

Mr. Thompson doesn?t see his community involvement as ?an absolute requirement of the job? but he doesn?t think it hurts to get to know his community better.

And he makes sure that employees also have the chance to give both time and money to worthy causes.

With donations, the bank has a programme ? the Butterfield Bank Employee Trust ? allowing staff to voluntarily have a set amount deducted from their pay cheques and matched by the bank.

The programme, which is also open to bank retirees, raised $38,000 for last year?s Tsunami victims and a fundraising for Katrina victims recently closed, raising more than $22,000.

Mr. Thompson?s involvement with the Bermuda Dance Foundation is one that might be closer to his personal, rather than corporate interests.

He and his wife Susan have three daughters who are involved in the performing arts. It is also an area of interest for Mrs. Thompson who, in her three years on the Island, has become an avid supporter of the annual Bermuda International Film Festival.

However, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson keep their community involvement from infringing on Monday nights in front of the TV.

They have good reason: Eldest daughter Sarah stars weekly in Monday night television show ?Seventh Heaven?.

Sarah Thompson, who has done both TV and movie work, lives in Los Angeles.

The couple?s younger daughters, Elizabeth and Anne, both attend Bermuda High School. Elizabeth is in the senior International Baccalaureate Programme, and Anne is in year nine.