and registered by local insurance managers The Powerscourt Group and Chicago-based Chicago Corp.

Like Normandy Re, Palladium will be one of the first Bermuda companies involved in the securitisation of insurance products.

The backers are now putting together $100 million in capitalisation which they expect to have in place within the next two months.

Mr. John Williams of Powerscourt would only say about the intended lines of business that they are, "standardised insurance products, anything that we can trade, or also could be used in the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade). That's where all of the new insurance contracts are coming out. We (Powerscourt) are in a joint venture with Chicago Corp.'' Mr. Williams was at the major reinsurance conference, Rendezvous des Septembres, joining some 3,000 insurance and reinsurance professionals in Monte Carlo earlier this month, promoting the new product.

"The feedback was that it is an interesting idea. Like anything that you get involved in, the proof is in the pudding. But I think that we have something that is very interesting.

"It is an idea that people have been trying to crystallise into a company structure, and I think that we've have managed to go a long way toward getting that done.

"The combination of our expertise and our joint venture partners, who are on the CBOT, actively involved in the trading exchanges in the US.

"We are a Class Three company, although $100 million would make it a Class Four company.''