Ltd. has appointed Brian Hall to its board of directors. Former chairman of Bermuda's Insurance Advisory Committee, Mr. Hall is now president of privately held consulting business, Inter-Ocean Management Ltd. and served as a director of Johnson & Higgins from 1989 through March 1997.

He was also chairman of Johnson & Higgins (Bermuda) Limited from 1979 until his "retirement'' two years ago.

Renaissance Re Ltd. chairman, president and CEO James Stanard said the company would benefit from Mr. Hall's many years of experience in the insurance industry.

GLOBAL CROSSING SECURES FINANCING BUC Global Crossing secures financing Ambitious telecommunications network builder Global Crossing yesterday launched a $100 million finance programme for capacity purchases on its network. The US-unit of Bermuda-based Global Crossing teamed up with the corporate finance subsidiary of Toronto-listed Newcourt Credit Group Inc. for the project which will provide financing to customers. Global Crossing is to sell use of its bandwidth to telecommunications providers whose customers will then use the undersea fibre-optic network.This programme will see financing provided to Internet service providers, data companies and telephone networks.

Company chiefs predict the financing would cover up to 100 percent of the cost of capacity purchases on its network.

The initial programme commitment is $100 million and average transactions are expected to range from $5 to $10 million, fully amortising over three years.

SEA CONTAINERS 2Q EARNINGS UP SHI BUC Sea Containers 2Q earnings up Bermuda-based transport and hotel operator Sea Containers Ltd. has posted second quarter net earnings of $23.2 million -- up 33 percent on last year.

The company with diverse interests ranging from passenger transport to luxury hotels recorded revenue of $330 million for the quarter ended June 30.

Diluted earnings per common share for the quarter were $1.25, an increase of 32 percent from the 95 cents reported for the same period a year earlier. Sea Containers president James Sherwood said the "excellent results'' were achieved on the back of strong performances from passenger transport and hotels in the group. And the healthy earnings were posted despite a decline of $2.4 million in operating profits from marine container leasing in the second quarter compared with a year earlier.

BSX APPROVES LISTING OF SGA FUND STK BSX approves listing of SSgA fund The Bermuda Stock Exchange has approved the listing of the global shares and global services shares of the SSgA Cash Management Fund plc US Dollar Fund.

It is an open-ended investment company with variable capital organised under the laws of Ireland.

The company is organised in the form of an umbrella fund, made up of the US Dollar Fund, the Pound Sterling fund, the Euro Fund and the Canadian Dollar Fund.

Each fund has three classes of shares, global shares, global services shares and global accumulator shares.

All funds seek to maintain a high level of liquidity, reserve capital and stability of principal expressed in the fund's designated currency and, consistent with those objectives, earn current income.