The Bank of Bermuda name will carry on ? at least in the short term, but with its acquisition by multinational banking giant HSBC the name could disappear after five years.

Under the sales agreement signed by both parties, HSBC is legally bound to keep the Bank of Bermuda name for its local operations but only for five years.

Although conceding that HSBC could drop the landmark brand of the Island's largest bank after five years, CEO Henry Smith this week said, at a press conference, he hoped to see the name carry on.

"We don't actually know if they would change the name (after five years), but they (are committed) to maintain the name for five years."

He added: "We would obviously like to convince them to maintain the name into the future. That will be the challenge for us, here in Bermuda, to demonstrate the value of the brand so that they would agree with us on that. But the have to maintain the brand for five years."

Under the sales agreement ? which will take effect if shareholders and regulators approve the sale to HSBC for $1.3 billion ? the Bank of Bermuda name will continue to be used domestically, but coupled with with HSBC's hexagon logo.

If the deal goes through, HSBC will take over the bank's operations in Bermuda and in the Cayman Islands, New York, Bahrain, Dublin, Geneva, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Cook Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa. The bank's global operations will be merged into HSBC operations and will no longer be branded under the Bank of Bermuda name.

Mr. Smith also told on Monday, that the rights to the name 'Bank of Bermuda' will be retained by HSBC after the sale, thereby keeping the name and brand from being taken over and used by a separate venture.