Finance Minister Paula Cox said last night that Ace Ltd. chief executive officer Evan Greenberg’s call for beefed-up regulation of the insurance industry suggested he was “not current” with improvements that had taken place at the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).

Ms Cox, who works for Ace Ltd. as a corporate counsel, said the Bermuda model was one of “efficient and effective regulation”.

“Most regrettably, the comments attributed to Mr. Greenberg do not reflect that he is current with the legislative amendments and operational changes that consistently have been taking place within the BMA,” Ms Cox said.

After a stout defence of improvements already made and others in the pipeline, Ms Cox, in a clear criticism of her private-sector boss, concluded: “As the Minister of Finance, in protecting Bermuda’s national economic interest, when I comment on the world stage, given the far-reaching ramifications, I seek to ensure that I am informed, accurate and prudent in my comments. This is advisable across the board.”

Ms Cox said the BMA had separated the role of chair and CEO — a change that Mr. Greenberg had noted in his speech.

“The BMA has also advertised for a new CEO to meet the challenges and demands of being a world-class regulator of a premier financial services jurisdiction with a sophisticated and well-recognised and well-regulated industry,” the Deputy Premier added.

“Further, I note the legislative changes that were passed in 2005 and more recently in December 2006 to the Insurance Act (1978) and the significant fee increases passed in The Bermuda Monetary Authority Amendment Act 2006 and the provisions in that same Act that also were geared to cover corporate governance, and other related matters.”

Ms Cox stressed that Bermuda’s emergence as a leading offshore business centre had not occurred by accident.

“Our (Bermuda’s) emergence is not something that is happenstance or that occurred overnight,” Ms Cox said.

“It resulted from careful thought and planning. In fact, our watchwords as a jurisdiction are strategic planning, innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and sound management. Bermuda has established a strong presence in the world as a global niche player in the world of international finance and is ranked as the world’s leader in captive insurance and has one of the largest re-insurance markets in the world.”

Bermuda was still “the domicile of choice” for captives, in spite of increasing competition from rival domiciles, Ms Cox said.

“We have achieved this status and recognition through following a strategy that places a high emphasis on quality,” the Minister added. “The strategy has been successful. As a result, most of the ‘Fortune 100’ companies have a presence in Bermuda.

“One of our biggest challenges is that international activity has drawn the world’s attention to regulatory standard setting issues that need to be addressed, regardless of whether they exist in an offshore or onshore jurisdiction.

“However our stance is that we believe that standards should not differentiate between onshore or offshore but the focus, indeed, should be on the issue of effective supervision and regulation.”

See the full response from the BMA in tomorrow’s edition of The Royal Gazette