beat off competition for international business from rival juridictions, according to speakers at a seminar held last week.

In a speech at the "Marketing Bermuda Internationally'' seminar at the Princess Hotel on Friday, lawyer Mr. John Campbell warned that the lack of legislation governing "asset protection trusts'' may direct good quality business to other jurisdictions.

And two other prominent lawyers warned that the high cost of doing business in Bermuda was scaring off some investors.

Mr. Campbell said: "Over the past 15 months, a sub-committee of the Law Reform Committee has wrestled with the issues posed by this so-called `asset protection' legislation.'' "The primary objective has been to cap the open-ended exposure of a settlement or trust'' he said. "The concern, however, has also been not to shut out all future creditors.'' He defined asset protection as "protection of assets from the slings and arrows of aggrieved and unsatisfied creditors, from whatever direction they many emerge and whether present or future''.

"It has become very fashionable in the offshore world to speak of asset protection trusts or APT's as if they were some new breed of trust or settlement.

"In fact, there is nothing new about them. They are simply trusts established in an offshore jurisdiction which has legislated against the interests of creditors.

"Accordingly, it is a very delicate and sensitive subject indeed.'' The Cook Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Gibraltar and the Turks and Caicos Islands have introduced legislation on the subject. The British Virgin Islands is considering legislation, he said.

"Recognising the potentially dangerous nature of the subject and being fearful of damage to its international legislation, Bermuda has stood back.

"However, it has to be said that Bermuda's lack of any legislation on the subject may have the consequences of diverting good quality business to another jurisdiction, with that business and any subsequent business from the particular client being lost to Bermuda forever,'' he warned.

Mr. Donald Malcolm, senior associate at Conyers, Dill & Pearman in a speech about Foreign Sales Corporation (FSCs) identified USVI as one of Bermuda's major rivals.

One of the hindrances to marketing FSCs is the cost of Bermuda Government fees, compared to other jurisdictions.

Bermuda's annual licence fee of $1,600 compares to a $500 fee in USVI and Barbados for a small FSC, and $1,000 for an FSC with more than $5 million turnover.

"Bermuda is $600 more expensive and that is definitely a down side,'' said Mr. Malcolm. "There has been consideration about reducing that $1,600 for certain types of companies, such as investment holding companies. Many of the arguments also apply to FSCs, and Bermuda would have more if low fees were applicable.

He recommended that the annual Government fee should be lowered to between $500 and $750.

"Bermuda also loses on the comparative management costs compared to the USVI and Barbados, which separates out the directors' fees, and then charges processing costs on an hourly basis.

"I suggest in Bermuda those administering FSCs should look at how they break down the fees and work out an hourly rate.

Another recommendation Mr. Malcolm made was that the annual company declaration form should extract more accurate business definitions. "It would help if I could tell how many FSCs there are,'' he said.

According to Mr. Malcolm, Bermuda's law firms are doing the bulk of Bermuda's FSC business, handling the incorporations, review documents, giving opinions, and providing offshore maintenance and compliance services.

The advantages of FSCs are they exert no strain on the local infrastructure as there is no need to import professionals, he said.

And Mrs. Lynda Milligan-Whyte, in a speech entitled "Innovative Business Structures using Bermuda Vehicles'', warned that rival jurisdictions' costs are now below comparable costs in Bermuda.

"BVI is attracting many high net worth individuals, who want to set up personal holding companies from the Middle East and the Far East. In fact, they prefer the BVI to Bermuda.

"Barbados, although on a level playing field in terms of insurance, has numerous tax treaties with other jurisdictions and Bermuda only has one.

"In the future, Bermuda will have to take competition very seriously. It has not in the past.'' She stressed the need to market Bermuda's advantages through specialist magazines and journals.

"If Bermuda has no advantages over other jurisdictions, then Government should be lobbied to make sure the proper infrastructure and legal system is in place to ensure that we do have an advantage.'' Other emerging competitors, she acknowledged, include Dublin, which is gaining strength in the insurance and financial services sector, Luxembourg, with a burgeoning mutual fund sector and Guernsey, which has a strong trust and captive insurance business.

"Many of the US insurance companies, that want access to the European market, are not looking at Bermuda, even though Bermuda is a UK dependent territory -- they are looking at Dublin and Luxembourg.

"Bermuda has to retain that business which could be lost to those jurisdictions. ACE has set up a subsidiary in Dublin to write European risks.

Why couldn't it have set a similar company in Bermuda to deal with that type of risk? "Bermuda has to actively market itself to the international community,'' she said.

"Another challenge regarding marketing is that Bermuda must maintain its integrity and respect as a financial centre.

"Recently, I was involved in a discussion at the International Business Forum in Bermuda. They said the costs of doing business in Bermuda have risen to the point where they are reassessing whether they should have a physical presence here.

"Bermuda must have a highly skilled labour force with professionals trained outside Bermuda. Training should not stop when they come back to Bermuda.

"At the forum, it was also mentioned that Bermuda needs to maintain a secure environment for international business to operate.

"I am not saying that a change of political power will mean an insecure environment. I am articulating what the international business community has stated. They want a secure environment for their assets and their executives.

The degree to which we don't provide that, we will lose business,'' said Mrs.

Milligan-Whyte.

She urged that Bermuda adopt a strong future strategy including deciding what kinds of clients the Island wanted.

Mrs. Lynda Milligan-Whyte.