The former head of Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. Ltd.'s international business said he made "untrue'' statements during the company's negotiations with a reinsurer in 1989, a court heard yesterday.

Keith White, now chief administrative officer at ACE Ltd., stated in a 1989 letter sent to reinsurer Integral that management was "very apprehensive'' about Bermuda Fire's future.

He also said the company jacked up figures for reserves on future claims some 400 percent higher than projected by actuary Tillinghast so as to get the best deal over potential debts problem reinsurer Integral owed to Bermuda Fire.

Under questioning from Clare Montgomery, lawyer for Bermuda Fire liquidator Ernst & Young, Mr. White said the statement that management was "apprehensive'' was untrue.

Under an eventual deal -- called a commutation -- with Integral, Bermuda Fire received $4 million in reinsurance.

"No I was not apprehensive,'' he said. "I was using that to get the best commutation.'' Under further questioning he said the statement was untrue.

"I was exaggerating the situation to get the best settlement I could,'' he said. "...I don't think it was a deliberate untruth. It was one factor I would use in a negotiation.'' Later, during further testimony, Mr. White protested that he wasn't being dishonest in the letter. After the Integral deal was worked out Mr. White drafted a letter on behalf of then Bermuda Fire general manager Cyril Rance in which he thanked Cooper & Lines partner David Lines for his help during the Integral negotiations.

"The problem is now clearly ours,'' he wrote about the international losses Bermuda Fire was facing. He also stated Bermuda Fire was now "on the hook'' while Integral was "off the hook''.

"Who was on the hook?'' Ms Montgomery asked.

"Bermuda Fire,'' Mr. White said. "But at the same time we had got a good settlement.'' Mr. White is testifying at the Supreme Court civil case under subpoena by Bermuda Fire's liquidator. Ms Montgomery has been questioning him over three days about how the company dealt with the mounting international losses. Mr.

White was head of Bermuda Fire's international division until he left in 1989 to join ACE Ltd.

Bermuda Fire's liquidator alleges that Bermuda Fire's management and board underestimated the reserves and incurred but not reported losses the company would need to meet future claims so as to hide the company's insolvency.

Mr. White stated in court yesterday that when he left Bermuda Fire he felt that he had managed to get the company's international losses under control through a stop-loss reinsurance cover with Sun Alliance.

"We had in place adequate reinsurance cover,'' he said.

Asked why he wrote in a November letter just before he left that the "asbestos reserve has been almost eaten up and deserves close attention'' he replied that he was referring to the fact that most of the major claims for that problem had been paid.

Mr. White is married to Judy Panchaud White, currently the head of the general and life business at BF&M Ltd., the company created in 1991 to hold Bermuda Fire's domestic assets which the liquidators claim were fraudulently transferred. He continues giving evidence today.