The August referendum could decide the future of the Bermuda Financial Centre Ltd. (BFCL), its president said yesterday.

The Independence discussion was blamed by proponents of the scheme for the BFCL's failure to attract financial support.

Talks with potential investors were underway, and president Mr. Michael Winfield yesterday remained confident.

Groups from both sides of the Atlantic have reportedly expressed interest in the scheme.

Mr. Winfield said, "The construction of the offices, at the least, is dependent upon there being enough tenants showing interest in the offices to make them viable and therefore attract the investors.

"Tenants, either already in Bermuda, or considering Bermuda, are certainly not, as I can ascertain, in the mode of making decisions of that nature at this moment.'' He conceded potential investors were likely to wait for the outcome of the August 15 referendum.

"Whether they will be (ready to commit) on August 16 will depend very much on how Bermuda reacts on the 16th,'' he said. "We are hopeful that that will be a milestone that will enable this project to gain momentum again.'' Mr. Winfield was asked about the possibility that BFCL's major tenant, financial reinsurer Centre Re, was planning to take significant space in the recently-proposed Pearman Watlington development.

"There was a statement that Centre Re was interested in the PW's development,'' he said, "but to the best of my knowledge there is no contractual agreement between the Pearman Watlington developers and Centre Re.

I believe that Centre Re's position is quite clear. They want real office space and they want it in the near future.

"I think the Pearman Watlington development has a long, long way to go. They have conceived it, and that is where we were two years ago. There's the planning process and all kinds of things that have to be gone through.'' "It is my hope that regardless of the decision taken on August 15th, that Bermudians and those living in Bermuda will accept that it is time to get down to getting Bermuda ready for the future.

"There has been a lull, a period of time where very little has been done in that regard. That's got to change. There is an awful lot of work to be done, not just with this project, but with a lot of subjects. I'm hoping that process will begin in the latter half of August. We have delayed our progress too long.'' Almost four months after the expiration of a significant deadline imposed by its major creditor, the Bank of Bermuda, Mr. Winfield still sees the project coming together.

He conceded, "Our creditors have been very good to us. We remain in a similar position as we were at March 31. The company is needing investment, but however, I think that there is some confidence amongst our creditors that this project is going to go ahead, if we can just cut through the flak of everything else that is around.

"Everybody is so focussed on the Independence debate that it is very difficult to get them to talk about the next ten years.

"I'm confident that both the debt and equity is there, if we can get the tenants committed.''