To further the development of the Bermuda Stock Exchange as an offshore capital market, its chief executive William Woods circled the globe last month.

"It was all business. Well, I did manage to get one game of golf in California,'' he said.

Mr. Woods' three week trip included stops in the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong and California.

"In the UK, I met with mutual fund managers and lawyers. I was very encouraged by the increased level of interest in using the BSX for listing as opposed to Dublin and Luxembourg,'' he said.

About 550 to 600 funds are Dublin-listed and about 450 funds are Luxembourg-listed while 62 funds are BSX-listed with several more in the works.

A total of about 80 funds are expected to be BSX-listed by the end of this month, Mr. Woods said.

UK representatives identified Bermuda's flexibility, its regulatory regime and the speed with which the Exchange can list a fund as positive features, Mr.

Woods said.

As example, he said it took only three weeks to list the Fleming Emerging Market Leveraged Debt Fund.

"We've proved we can do these things quickly.'' Mr. Woods said that in some ways, like the number of funds listed, Bermuda is chasing Dublin. "But we've got more than one string to our bow,'' he added.

Dublin is also ahead of Bermuda in that it has foreign securities market designation from the Japanese Securities Dealers Association (JSDA). The BSX is looking to join about 30 other jurisdictions with this designation.

The BSX is in the preliminary stage of apply for the JSDA designation. While in Tokyo, Mr. Woods met with Japanese regulators.

"The JSDA indicated the licensing process will take several months, Mr. Woods said.

A JSDA would follow the Securities and Exchange Commission designating the BSX an offshore securities market. The SEC designation, a major step in the BSX's plan to become an international offshore capital market, gave the BSX various trading approvals and additional credibility.

In Hong Kong, Mr. Woods met with corporate finance and legal representatives of Hong Kong-listed, Bermuda-domiciled companies in an effort to sway more from this group of about 300 to list on the BSX.

"It is unlikely these companies will list in Bermuda until the hand over. We need to go back later in the year,'' he said.

Mr. Woods added that he was able to advance plans for the BSX's new "Asian match'' facility which will allow the BSX to trade Hong Kong listed stocks after the Hong Kong market closes. Mr. Woods met with representatives of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Clearing Company.

"We are looking at launching this in fourth quarter,'' he said.

Asian matching is one of a family of new products which will make up the BSX's arsenal.

The final leg of Mr. Woods trip took him to California where he spoke at the Bermuda International Business Association's briefing at the IBA/ICIEF mutual funds conference.

Although the offshore fund market is primarily driven by UK-based institutions, a growing number of US firms are setting up offshore funds, he said.

Mr. Woods added that he has identified what he believes is a significant opportunity for Bermuda's international business sector.

"In Japan, there has been a major shift toward securities deregulation allowing Japanese corporations and institutions to buy foreign securities more easily,'' he said. "As a result, I get the impression there is increased interest in using offshore structures in Bermuda through which to buy foreign securities.

"Several firms expressed interest in using Bermuda vehicles to for financial restructuring.'' Mr. Woods said this presents an opportunity for Bermuda because as Japanese firms move capital, they may "trigger a tax event'' and the use of Bermuda can avoid such triggering.

"This is an opportunity for Bermuda. Cayman lawyers are already marketing this quite aggressively.'' BSX CEO William Woods BUSINESS BUC