than four-fold, the underwriter has said.

In fact, the deluge of applications swamped officials so significantly, they were still processing them late into the night on Friday.

With an attractive return of eight percent and an easily-understood concept, Bermudians of all backgrounds sought to take advantage of the investment.

Mr. Bruce Sharpe, manager of the capital markets division of the Bank of Butterfield, said: "The Bank of Butterfield, as the underwriter for the Corporation's bond issue, is very pleased to report that the $6.5 million offering was almost four and a half times over-subscribed.

"More than 400 applications, totaling over $28,000,000, were received by the closing time of the offer at noon, Friday.

"As a consequence of the large number of applications, the allocation process extended well into Friday night as the Corporation and the bank sought to work out a fair system that would provide each applicant with a number of bonds, while favouring small investors.'' Mr. Sharpe, who was in charge of the offering for the bank, said: "The overwhelming success of this offering demonstrates that there is always a demand for investments that are well structured, straightforward, and are offered by a respected corporate name.'' Mr. Sharpe gave credit to Mayor of Hamilton the Rt. Wor. William Boyle and City alderman Mr. David White whom he described as forward thinking and astute in initially recognising the benefits of involving the public in the Corporation's capital projects.

Bond applicants will soon be informed of the number that they have been allocated, with certificates to follow soon after.

The bonds are expected to be listed and traded on the Bermuda Stock Exchange this week.