Institute (BII) are birds of a feather who will be flocking together this week at the annual RAA conference being held in Bermuda.

Both organisations pursue a wide range of activities on their members' behalf, although the scale of their endeavours is different.

The RAA has members throughout the United States, and therefore needs a significant staff simply to manage relationships with its members. The complex nature of government in the United States calls for experts in both state and federal law.

The BII has a less complicated system to deal with, which is one of the key advantages Bermuda and other first class offshore jurisdictions offer and one of the key reasons for Bermuda's success.

In the main, Bermuda law is formulated after Government has consulted with the industry to ensure that regulation remains fair and sensible while achieving its targets.

The RAA and BII engage in a variety of activities for their members, which fall into six main categories: Legislation: The RAA is an active advocate for reinsurance interests. They represent their members before the state regulators and legislators who directly regulate the US insurance business.

At the level of the Federal Government, the RAA is active on insurance regulatory issues and other specific topics of interest to its members which may from time to time arise.

In Bermuda, on a smaller scale, the BII maintains channels to the Ministry of Finance, the Bermuda Monetary Authority, the Registrar of Companies and other government departments to ensure that both the regulators and the regulated are speaking the same language.

Legal agenda: The RAA serves as a resource for its members on analysis of reinsurance statutes and case law nationwide. It represents its members' interests by bringing litigation when necessary. The RAA also stimulates discussion and the publication of articles to aid development of reinsurance law in the US.

Information: The RAA provides aggregate data, including quarterly statistics on industry underwriting skills, analysis of annual statement data on the reinsurance market, an underwriting review of premiums and losses, and a biennial study on historical loss development.

The BII provides all sorts of information on Bermuda and its insurance industry to interested parties all over the world. Each year, the BII spearheads the local industry's attack, cardboard Bermuda cottage and all, on the RIMS Conference.

Education: Both the RAA and BII have education at the heart of their activities.

The RAA holds seminars around the United States for State insurance departments. Members' conferences cover reinsurance legal developments, tax, claims, accounting and environmental issues.

The BII offers insurance students a range of insurance qualifications and, through its connections with the College of Insurance in New York and the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies, provides and facilitates significant educational opportunities aimed at Bermudian students who hope to join the Island's insurance community.

Electronic Communication: The RAA has been actively involved in a joint venture with the Brokers & Markets Association and European organisations to develop a system for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to facilitate the exchange of insurance and reinsurance data.

The BII has played a big part in the development of many of the Island's insurance-related websites and is actively assisting with a number of intranets and extranets among its members and others.

Publications: Both the RAA and the BII communicate the message of their members on matters of interest through a wide variety of channels.