Bermuda Stock Exchange made strides in winning some key designations from overseas authorities in 2005, its chief executive said yesterday, while the number of issuers listed on the BSX saw a five percent decline over the year.

Over the year, The Royal Gazette/BSX Composite Index moved up 21.1 percent compared to 2004, finishing the year at 3,884.08 points. And domestic trading volumes increased from 2.6 million shares to 2.9 million shares with a corresponding value exceeding $75 million.

At year-end, 362 issuers were listed on the BSX. This represents a decline from the 381 issuers that were listed on the exchange at the end of 2004.

During the year one of the longstanding issuers trading on The Royal Gazette/BSX Index ? restaurant company Long Botham Boats Co. Ltd. ? finalised its planned delisting. The company, which owns Henry VIII's Pub and Restaurant, Robin Hood and more recently, Freddie's on the Square in St. George, said it had decided to privatise because it no longer operated the public eating facility at Horseshoe Bay, and to shave fees associated with being a listed company. It also pointed out that the BSX was not the group's traditional source of capital.

The BSX listed 26 new collective investment vehicles and 26 subsequent issues were processed during the year.

And the BSX International Crossing Market ended the year with 857 million shares traded and an associated value of $47 billion. The total market capitalisation of the BSX as at December 31, 2005 (excluding fund listings) stood at over $300 billion, of which approximately $2 billion represented the domestic market.

On the designation front, in June the BSX was recognised by the Australian tax authority as an Approved Stock Exchange and in September the UK Financial Services Authority granted the exchange Designated Investment Exchange status.

"These recognitions are clearly substantial developments for the BSX and have been achieved as the exchange has demonstrated to its overseas regulatory peers that the controls, infrastructure and regulations in place by the BSX for the Bermuda capital market embrace and meet internationally accepted regulatory standards," chief executive Greg Wojciechowski said.

The BSX had been working towards the FSA designation for several years.