The man who urged civil disobedience against Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE) regulations is ready to fork out the cash to pay the fines of companies facing prosecution for disobeying the law.

But he's had no takers so far. And from his own account the call to rebel against the Government's plans fell on deaf ears.

William Williams, CEO of STW Fixed Income Management, which relocated to California last year, had urged businesses to resist CURE's filing requirements on the composition of their workforce.

"I pledge my personal funds to reimburse the individual fines of up to $5,000 each levied on the first predominantly Bermudian-owned companies who are fined for refusing to file or for filing forms with incomplete or deliberately confusing information," he said in March last year.

"All they would have to do is let me know that the fine is a financial hardship."

At the time, Government backbencher Wayne Perinchief condemned the comments as inflammatory and Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb told the House of Assembly that his departure was a good thing.

Mr. Williams' call failed to stoke mass rebellion among the business community - just eight companies failed to comply with the regulations out of a total of over 400.

When contacted at his California offices yesterday, he told The Royal Gazette that he stood by his pledge.

"I made the promise I can't go back on it. But I have had no requests and I've heard from no one." He added that no one had ever contacted him about their intentions of disobeying the law when he advocated rebellion.

With considerable fanfare Mr. Williams relocated his business to California claiming that Government's policies - on Immigration, work permits, race and the workplace - threatened his competitiveness. He warned others could easily follow. That has not happened. And Mr. Williams is not as vocal as he used to be.

When asked if he was surprised that the vast majority of businesses had complied with the CURE regulations, Mr. Williams said that he had no opinion as he had not kept up with developments on the Island.

"That's all in the past," he told The Royal Gazette.

Last week a handful of companies appeared before the courts for violating the CURE laws. The first to be convicted was Paget Drycleaners which was fined $500 for not handing in the forms. Amatullah Bashir, appearing on behalf of the company, admitted to the offence saying the company's faxes had been going to the "wrong location".

Companies that did not register with CURE face fines of up to $1,000 and those that did not submit the required information can be fined up to $5,000.