his fee income came from Bermuda companies seeking his advice on what they should do if the Progressive Labour Party won the General Election.

But, he admitted, since the election "at most one'' company has relocated from Bermuda to Cayman as the Bermuda business community issues the ultimate stamp of approval to the new Government by keeping their operations in Bermuda.

Asking not to be named -- legal circles everywhere are small, and in Cayman more so than in Bermuda -- the attorney said he recalled "a genuine concern'' on the part of a number of Bermuda-based companies "that a plan B was needed''.

Cayman is Bermuda's nearest offshore competitor. Its international banking sector makes it the world's fifth-largest financial centre and a solid insurance sector has grown up on a captive basis.

Cayman has stolen a lead in the area of cat bond securitisations, with 12 of the first 15 being set up in George Town, the capital of the three Cayman Islands: Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.

For more on the Caymans see Page 39 LAWYERS LEG