relations'', Finance Minister, the Hon. Dr. David Saul, said on Friday.

Responding to criticism the proposed changes were nothing more than "a PR move'' Dr. Saul said: "They are absolutely essential and a major rewrite of the legislation.

"We have regularly, each year, been amending our legislation with respect to the supervision of insurance in Bermuda. The Insurance Advisory Committee (IAC) recommended strongly to Government that it was time to completely revamp the legislation in light of the dramatic changes.'' "They (the proposed changes) are far from window dressing.'' Dr. Saul was responding to comments on Thursday by Business Insurance publisher Ms Kathryn McIntyre who said the proposed changes have done little to diminish international concerns about how long Bermuda's insurance capitalisation will last.

"In Monte Carlo (the location of a major reinsurance retreat held each September), I am sorry to report it (the proposed change) was seen as a PR move,'' she said at a Bermuda Insurance Institute luncheon, adding that the proposals have yet to become law.

Dr. Saul said: "I hope to table the Bill in the House in a matter of weeks (when Parliament re-opens in February) for first reading.'' The proposed amendments, a response to the growing complexity and number of insurance companies, will divide the Island's insurance companies into classes with capitalisation and surplus requirements.

The proposed amendments are expected to become law in April and will go along way to silence critics of Bermuda's insurance business, Dr. Saul said.

According to Ms McIntyre, the proposed amendments are part of larger "image'' problem.

As well as the Monte Carlo view on the regulations, according to Ms McIntyre, competitors are likely using media reports of increased crime as ammunition against the Bermuda insurance market.

"In a competitive world, people will use whatever (is available), it wouldn't surprise me if (competitors) were,'' said Mr. Michael Butt, president and CEO of Mid Ocean Reinsurance.

The Bermuda International Business Association also said it was concerned about the possibility that crime on the Island might be perceived overseas so negatively that it affects business, whatever its source.

"However, we have no concrete evidence about the degree to which there is overseas awareness of crime on the Island,'' a BIBA statement released on Friday said.

"While we feel we must pay attention to warnings such as the one sounded (Thursday) by Ms McIntyre, we also feel it is important to put the Island's crime statistics in context to a visitor who lives in New York or London or Hong Kong. In the context of doing business in those cities, and many, many others, Bermuda can legitimately lay claim to being a safe community,'' the organisation added.

BIBA also indicated business should not be complacent, and said they "support the need to be vigilant in keeping Bermuda as close to crime-free as possible and to making sure the overseas market is kept accurately informed.''