International Bar Association's (IBA) Section on Business Law, held in Paris.

Business lawyers believe that the Bermuda market gains invaluable exposure from attending such conferences. Both company lawyers and those in private practice attend. There were some 3,000 attending this year for the purposes of business development through networking with other lawyers and exchanging ideas and learning about new developments.

Mr. Peter Rodger, the group legal adviser and senior vice president of the Bank of Butterfield, is senior vice chairman of the IBA's 900-member Committee on Investment Companies and Mutual Funds, and may be the chairman next year.

He has been a member since 1983, one of the elder statesmen in the contingent from Bermuda.

Mr. Rodger said, "Although we are a drop in the bucket in terms of the overall conference, lawyers from other countries were impressed by the strong turn out from Bermuda. There were other jurisdictions that had more, but when they compare Bermuda's 15 participants with countries like Cayman Islands, who were unrepresented, they were impressed.

"There were hundreds of lawyers from some of the larger countries. But from Barbados there were two, one from Bangladesh, Bulgaria three, Botswana one, Cameroon three, Hong Kong 11, Luxembourg 15, The Channel Islands three and the Isle of Man had two.'' Bermuda is also the venue for the committee's annual Spring forum, the Annual Globalisation of Mutual Funds Conference, now in its seventh year. It is jointly sponsored by the IBA and the US Investment Company Institute. The 1996 conference is being held at the Southampton Princess Hotel in late April.

Mr. Rodger commented: "The Bermuda conference was conceived over a breakfast meeting I attended in Buenos Aires in 1988. A faction of the IBA wanted it in Florida but fortunately they were persuaded that Bermuda would be best. The conference has become so popular in the fund industry, it is simply referred to as "Bermuda''. It's an excellent example of promoting both our international business and our hospitality industries.'' In Paris, Mr. Rodger chaired a panel discussion on what happens in different jurisdictions where a fund fails to comply with its investment objectives.

He used factual elements of the collapse of the Barings Bank and other recent incidents for leading lawyers from the US, the UK, France, Luxembourg and Hong Kong to spark comment on what investor remedies were available in their respective countries.

Mr. Rodger said, "One fact that emerged very clearly from our Paris debate was that directors of funds worldwide and their compliance officers must educate themselves better on the right questions to ask and reports to receive on the more complex derivatives now being purchased by mutual funds. They can no longer afford to leave it all to the investment adviser.'' Partner and head of the company department at Appleby, Spurling & Kempe (AS&K), Mr. Peter Bubenzer said that at such events, even the social experiences are used as potential business opportunities for local representatives.

He said, "Certainly for the representatives of our firm, it was a very successful event. There were attorneys there from the four corners of the globe and it was one of the biggest conferences they've ever had.

"For example, I ran into attorneys from various parts of Africa, South America, Asia, as well as of course, plenty from North America and Europe. It was truly an international event, where there was a tremendous opportunity to mix with attorneys from every facet of business practice.

"There was a lot of opportunity to learn at various sessions about international developments in our specialised business areas and to renew old contacts.

"There are also numerous social events, to follow up on contacts made during the day, at various interesting locations all over Paris. Although its a mixture of business and pleasure, business is very much in the forefront.

"It's networking and learning about how things are done in other jurisdictions and an excellent opportunity for Bermuda to demonstrate its sophistication and knowledge, by mixing in these circles and being well recognised.'' Mr. Rodger noted:"It was good this year to not only have Mrs. Dianna Kempe (managing partner of AS&K), the secretary general of the IBA, but to also have present Deputy Premier of Bermuda, Mr. Jerome Dill (AS&K partner).'' Mr. Bubenzer's major areas of interest include mutual funds and securities work such as share and debt issues.

He said, "There are a few areas which I think Bermuda has had a particular reputation which can be enhanced. In particular, in relation to mutual funds, aircraft and ship financing. There was somebody at the conference who is quite knowledgeable about that.

"In relation to business trusts, we've seen some very interesting developments recently. People have been using Bermuda trusts to structure significant commercial transactions, which previously we've never seen.

"There's also general securities work, involving companies that are set up in Bermuda and listed on international exchanges. On the right committees, you get an opportunity to talk about the benefits that Bermuda offers.

"In fact, I attended one session, which was Committee Two on Securities, where one speaker made a reference to the use of Bermuda for companies that were being listed on the Norwegian Stock Exchange, by way of an example, which was entirely unsolicited by us.'' MR. PETER RODGER