new legislation is in place.

And Attorney General Mr. Walter Maddocks is hoping new laws will be considered after a meeting in Trinidad and Tobago next week.

A pair of local legal and financial experts are flying out to Port of Spain for the workshop on money laundering, from May 3 to May 5.

Mr. Khamisi Tokumbo, of the Attorney General's Chambers, and Mr. Peter Hardy, of the Ministry of Finance, will represent the Island.

They will be among political leaders, senior government officials, law officers, bankers and police.

More than 70 participants from 20 Caribbean countries are taking part in the workshop, arranged by the Commonwealth Secretariat in conjunction with Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Mr. Maddocks said: "We are assuming that there will be recommendations coming out of the workshop which either my Chambers or the Ministry of Finance will be passing on to Government.

"White collar crime is something we must always be on our guard about.

Personally I do not think there is much of a problem in Bermuda. But the problem is that without the appropriate legislation we cannot pick it up.'' The London-based Commonwealth Secretariat has invited some of the leading authorities in the field from Britain and Canada to address the meeting and to lead the discussion.

The Secretariat's Commercial Crime Unit will also be represented. The unit has developed intelligence between Commonwealth and other jurisdictions since it was established in 1981.

It works closely with several international bodies including the United Nations in assisting countries to arrest the growth of white collar crime. The crime is causing concern to governments in both developed and developing nations.

White collar crime is applied to a range of activities including money laundering, fraud, exchange control violations, drugs and arms trafficking, smuggling, securities frauds and counterfeiting of currencies.

A Secretariat spokesman said increased cooperation between Commonwealth countries was essential to stopping money laundering, in which criminals use banks to funnel money into legitimate businesses.

"Small island states in the Caribbean are among favourite countries of white collar criminals who are extremely difficult to catch,'' he said.

The Port of Spain workshop will discuss bank secrecy and anti-money laundering activities, criminal justice policy issues and confiscation and forfeiture laws.