rules which restrict foreign ownership in local companies, the bank announced yesterday.

Minister of Finance Eugene Cox announced the licence to relieve BCB from the non-Bermudian ownership restrictions was in the national interest.

He said: "I have no doubt that the access to international sources of capital that this licence will provide to the bank will be beneficial for the bank and Bermuda generally.'' The announcement pushed up the price of the company's stock on the Bermuda Stock Exchange up more than 17 percent to a new 52-week high of $8.20.

Bermuda Commercial Bank warrants soared 150 percent or 30 cents to close at 50 cents a piece after it was announced that the expiry date for the warrants has been extended to May 31, 2002.

The First Curacao International Bank N.V. will now become a 50 percent stakeholder of the bank.

John Deuss, chairman and chief executive officer of the Bank, said: "BCB's shares, currently trading at $7 per share or at 66 percent of their book value of $10.62 per share, are undervalued. Based on the experience of the other two banks, BCB's share price may benefit from the lifting of the ownership restrictions.'' But the announcement appears to have unnerved investors in the other banks, with both the share values of Bank of Bermuda and Bank of Butterfield dipping during the day, pushing the index down nearly 20 points during the day.

The bank said foreign ownership of BCB has been at the 40 percent limit for some time, effectively rendering the BCB shares unavailable for non-Bermudian investors.

In a release the bank said: "This may explain, in part, why BCB's shares are undervalued when compared to the share prices of the two other Bermudian banks, which trade at greater than 200 percent of book value having already benefited from the recently obtained waivers from the 60/40 ownership restrictions.'' In an unusually frank and detailed four-page report from the bank, the company announced that its profits for the six months ending 31 March, 2001, had dipped for the year by 5.5 percent from $2.83 million last year to $2.67 million this year, not including a one-time gain of over $5 million.

The company also announced that by December of this year BCB plans to move to new premises, presently under construction, on the corner of Parliament Street and Victoria Street.

As a tenant, the bank will initially occupy two floors of the new building, which will be named the "Bermuda Commercial Bank Building''.

BCB said it expects that its global electronic distribution of financial services could lead to further office space requirements, and accordingly it has the right to occupy additional space in the new building.

The release said: "John Deuss emphasised that BCB remains committed to providing superior client service through the use of top-quality systems and maintaining a high quality, low-risk balance sheet. The aim of the bank is to provide bullet-proof banking to our customers while maximising shareholder returns.'' Mr. Cox said in a press release: "As I have noted in recent statements on the subject matter, when considering an application for a licence pursuant to section 114B of the Act (Companies Act 1981), the Minister is required to determine whether the national interest will be served by granting such a licence. In this context, I am mindful that the bank is competing with other global businesses that are not restricted in their ability to access international capital markets to finance growth and further development.

Furthermore, the risk inherent in the international banking sector in which the bank competes make it essential, for prudential purposes, that the capital required to mitigate such risks is readily accessible.

"These reasons, and others, support the issuance of a licence to the bank.

This licence is subject to conditions identical to those that I issued recently to the Bank of Bermuda Ltd. and the Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd. to ensure that Bermuda's national interest will be served.'' For more news about Bermuda Commercial Bank, see Page 27