week of top offshore banking supervisors in Bermuda.

The discussions at the meeting of the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors at the Princess Hotel because of the presence of Mrs. Foo-Yap Siew Hong, director of foreign institutions at the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The Joint Working Party of the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision and the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors open two days of discussion today, at Waterloo House.

The Basle Committee on Banking Supervision, with delegates from G-10 countries, have representatives here that include Secretary General Mr.

Frederick Musch, who is also with the Bank for International Settlements.

The talks come on the heels of the meetings, concluded just yesterday, among the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors.

Chairman Mr. Colin Powell of the Channel Islands yesterday confirmed that the Barings issue was discussed.

He said: "It did come up, because there was a delegate from Singapore. It also came up in another context because one of the other members of the group had a Barings subsidiary in his jurisdiction and so he had to cope with that particular situation.

"It gave rise to some useful comments and we are going to pick up on some of the points made in that discussion, at our next meeting. That is, problems that are faced by an offshore centre if it happens to have a subsidiary of an international bank that gets into difficulties. How does it cope with that situation? There are a number of issues arising from that which we will be addressing further.'' Bermuda Monetary Authority general manager, Mr. Malcolm Williams, said it was an honour for Bermuda to host the 18 countries, especially since Bermuda has only been a full member of the Offshore Group since 1990.

"This is good for the BMA,'' said Mr. Williams. "We are the only sole home supervisor in the group. We have banks which we supervise on a home supervisory basis. In other words, there are only parental banks here in Bermuda.

"That carries quite a degree of responsibility. Out of the 18 countries, our banks are represented in at least seven of them.'' The representatives use the "peer group'' principle to lift the standards of banking supervision throughout offshore centres. Bermuda, said Mr. Powell, is one of the many centres working already to the highest standards.

But he said more cooperation is required among supervisory authorities for the exchange of information throughout the world. The whole process of worldwide cooperation and coordination toward effective supervision is one of the major goals of the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision.

He described as "useful'' Monday's Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors meetings with the president of the Financial Action Task Force, Mr. Ron Noble, on money laundering.

He said: "We were really building on what is there, in the sense that the Financial Action Task Force has 40 recommendations for combating money laundering.

"We were seeking to ensure the president of the FATF of our commitment to those 40 recommendations. That is something we have put in writing on many occasions.

"We were also seeking to gain assurance from him that in our efforts to comply with the international standards that those efforts would be recognised, and that there would be a clear perception around that centres, particularly those centres who make up the Offshore Group, are with those in the forefront in combating money laundering, through the existence of appropriate legislation and also the existence of the necessary resources to put that legislation into effect.'' The perception of offshore centres, he said, is still often a perception of "regulatory laxity''. It is a "cross'' he said that such centres have to bear that many perceive such them as not necessarily working to the standards as other countries.

But through the building of good relations with the Basle Committee and the FATF, there is a growing understanding amongst those organisations that there are distinctions to be drawn between offshore centres.

Mr. Powell also said there are more problems with money laundering onshore than offshore, especially offshore within this group.

Waterloo House, starting today.