Bermuda's banks are lending more money, in cash terms, than ever - the latest report released by the Bermuda Monetary Authority reveals.

They are handing out $4.1 billion in loans, advances and mortgages, while taking in $3.6 billion in deposits for the second quarter of this year.

This represents a percentage of deposit liabilities of 113.8 percent, marginally down from the 114.5 percent recorded for the first quarter of this year.

But lending is up from $3.9 billion for the first quarter 2007, as are deposits held at $3.4 billion for the same period, while the gap for surplus deposits has widened from $494 million to its current figure of $495 million for this year's second quarter.

The banks' total assets amounted to $24.7 billion, made up of $4.5 billion worth of Bermudian dollars, while liabilities were exactly the same at $24.7 billion, $5.6 billion of which comprised of Bermudian dollars.

Meanwhile, the total number of new Bermuda-based companies exempt from the 60 percent Bermudian ownership requirement which had been approved rose significantly from 236 in the first quarter of 2007 to 328 for the proceeding quarter.

Another figure on the increase was the total net asset value of investment funds, which peaked at $223.1 billion, up from $199.6 billion in the preceding quarter of this year, reflected in the number of total portfolios, which stood at 2,157 for the second quarter 2007, again climbing from 2,061 for the first quarter. But, the total number of funds dropped from 1,177 to 1,276 over the same period.

Similarly, the number of new insurers registering on the Island grew to 22 for the second quarter of this year, having previously suffered a decline of 21 from 34 to 13 between the final quarter of last year and the opening quarter of 2007.

The report also reveals that the fifth annual Global Reinsurance Market Study sponsored by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors Reinsurance Transparency Group, which looks at the workings and performance of global reinsurance markets such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, the UK, the US and Bermuda, and was completed in September, is expected to be published this month.