executive officer.

The CEO, who could well be a lawyer, would be responsible for managing the stock market's expansion.

The BSE hopes to have the position filled by April at the latest.

An invitation has been extended locally for qualified individuals to apply, but officials concede they are already aware of individuals overseas who are interested in the job.

As CEO, the successful applicant would maintain hands-on control as the BSE evolves into an internationally recognised stock exchange.

The search is being mounted by the exchange's search committee, chaired by BSE deputy chairman Mr. James Masters.

The exchange is owned by the three banks and the CEO would be required to report directly to the chairman of the council of the exchange and will be responsible for overseeing the development and other aspects of the exchange's management on a day to day basis.

Chairman Mr. Charles Gunn said the CEO will sit in on council meetings with the members, including representatives of the banks.

"The sooner we can get somebody on-line, the better. We are hoping to be able to send out our membership listing rules and regulations along with our invitation for people to join. That will have to be attended to.

"We have some draft listing rules that we are expecting this week from our consultant that must be studied by local professionals, before we send them off to the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA).'' Mr. Gunn noted that the Hong Kong consultancy firm, International Securities Consultancy Ltd., has almost completed the task they had been contracted to do, establishing the guidelines for trading, listing and membership rules. An implementation phase is to follow.

The exchange is trying to put together a set of trading rules for how members trade with each other.

Meanwhile, with the move toward attracting international listings in the future, Mr. Gunn said that exchanges were generally in favour of listed companies providing as much germane information as possible to the public about their half yearly and yearly results.

But he would not argue in favour of listed companies being required to open their doors to the public at shareholders' meetings.

He said: "There is certain information that the exchange will require be made public on a regular basis. Financial results at least on a half yearly basis and a listing of who the officers and directors are.

"Our draft listing rules, are with the BMA (Bermuda Monetary Authority) at the moment. In them, we are talking about a lot of other things, such as who is an insider.

Mr. Gunn said stricly speaking, only shareholders were entitled to attend annual general meetings but he admitted most major companies encouraged the Press to be present.

In the meantime, the BSE has specified the requirements for its CEO.

The ideal applicant would be a securities expert with skills and demonstrated capabilities to draft and implement all types of stock exchange rules, regulations and bye-laws, and, implement new procedures for trading and settlement.

The successful candidate would have to be able to deal with regulatory bodies and industry practitioners at the highest level, work on the development of the latest electronic trading and settlement systems and manage the introduction of new information technology systems.

A qualified applicant may be a lawyer with more than five years experience in securities law, operational experience in an internationally recognised securities exchange and experience in establishing new markets.