Appealing not only for its beautiful surroundings, semi-tropical climate and pink beaches, Bermuda holds an enviable position as having one of the world’s highest standards of living. International business and tourism are the drivers of the local economy, with the former increasingly becoming the larger provider of the two. According to the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), these two sectors represent an estimated 77.5% of the total balance of payments current account receipts of foreign exchange in the first three quarters of 2002 (source: U.S. Department of State website). Bermuda also has some light manufacturing industries while agricultural production is primarily restricted to local consumption.

Bermuda is a truly offshore financial center with a sterling reputation. Located just seven hundred miles off the U.S. eastern seaboard and less than seven hours by air from London the Island is both geographically and legislatively independent and neutral, making it an ideal hub for international finance.

The island has earned a reputation as a world-class centre of commerce, featuring a business-friendly environment, a stable and growing economy, and an unmatched collection of talent and intellectual capital in key sectors, including insurance, financial services, and, more recently, electronic commerce.

Bermuda's regulatory and legal systems (British Common Law) have evolved "over the years", not only facilitating business, but also allowing it to flourish. The island offers international companies a sophisticated high-tech infrastructure and is rich in intellectual capital.

The Bermuda Government works closely with Bermuda's international business community to develop laws & regulations that enhance the business environment in Bermuda. Similarly, Bermuda's telecommunications infrastructure and high technology backbone provide maximum bandwidth, with full redundancy, to the island, enabling Bermuda to accommodate rapidly growing global electronic commerce and communication services.

A Review of Bermuda’s financial sector regulation was conducted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in early 2003, as part of its OFC Assessment Program. This covered the banking, insurance and investment sectors, as well as Bermuda’s anti-money laundering controls. The IMF Report has recently been finalized, and has now been published.

The Report confirms the high quality nature of Bermuda’s international business and recognizes Bermuda’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that its financial services business is subject to regulation that is fully consistent with international standards while at the same time remaining appropriate to the nature of the activities and businesses that are regulated. Further, it points out the effectiveness with which the BMA has been able to develop, implement and enforce the regulatory framework, based on new and updated financial services legislation for the different sectors.

The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) was established in 1971, primarily as a domestic equities market. However as the Island's international financial sector grew so too did the Exchange and in 1992 the company was restructured into a demutalised, for-profit entity.

Today, the BSX is the world's largest offshore, fully electronic securities market offering a full range of listing and trading opportunities for international and domestic issuers of equity, debt, depository receipts, insurance securitization and derivative warrants.

The Bermuda Stock Exchange's significant growth over the last several years is due in large part to the company's innovative and flexible approach. In addition to taking a leading role in what has become a world trend towards profitability and demutalisation, the Exchange has sought to create unique products and services for its niche offshore market.

A case in point is the Exchange's "Mezzanine Market" , a unique pre-IPO market listing for start-up, high growth potential companies.

In addition to the Mezzanine Market the BSX supports a domestic market that trades daily, Monday through Friday and a robust after-hours crossing market for large institutional block trades. It is one of the world's leading listing facilities for offshore funds and alternative investment vehicles and supports niche markets for specialized insurance and debt products.

Bermuda’s currency is the Bermuda dollar which is on par with the U.S. dollar. In Bermuda, Bermudian and U.S. money can be used interchangeably. The Euro is not accepted in Bermuda and travellers with Euros will need to visit a local bank to make an exchange at the rate of the day.

Information in this section provided by the Bermuda Stock Exchange (www.bsx.bm) and the Bermuda Monetary Authority (www.bma.bm). Both current and detailed information regarding the Bermuda economy.