independent, Hong Kong's leading English language newspaper has reported.

And a Hong Kong business tycoon has established a $2.8 billion trust in the Cayman Islands, according to the South China Morning Post.

Billionaire Mr. Li Ka-Shing is moving his $2.8 billion stake in his company, Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., to three Cayman trusts in a bid to escape tax.

The cash transfer was publicised this week in a front page article in the newspaper.

It stated Mr. Li -- dubbed "Superman'' by the local Press for his investment prowess -- was transferring ownership of his shares to avoid Hong Kong's "potentially punitive'' inheritance taxes.

Beneficiaries of the linked trusts were Mr. Li's two sons, 30-year-old Victor and 28-year-old Richard and possibly other members of his family, the article added.

Managing director of Offshore Incorporations Limited, Mr. Ted Powell, was quoted as saying: "If you're looking for the best quality of legal services, then the Caymans is the place.'' The article then added: "Bermuda, another British island favoured by the Jardine Group companies, is currently attracting fewer Hong Kong investors because it may become independent.'' The reference to Bermuda, however, was not linked directly to 67-year-old Mr.

Li's cash transfer.

And in another interview with the paper, Mr. Li said the consolidation of his personal fortune had "nothing to do with politics or my confidence in Hong Kong's future''.

He is quoted as saying: "Cheung Kong has no plans to leave Hong Kong.'' Speculation has grown, however, in Mr. Li's confidence in Hong Kong's passage from British to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

Yesterday, Bank of Butterfield chairman and former Premier the Hon. Sir David Gibbons voiced again fears about Bermuda being damaged by the uncertainty brought on by the Independence issue.

It was extremely welcome that an August 15 date had been finally fixed for the Independence referendum, he said.

"Once it had been decided to hold a referendum, the sooner we got it over and done with the better.'' Sir David said it had been apparent uncertainty would bring about "deferment of business'' while the referendum was pending.

"I have been to Hong Kong and Beijing and am well aware of the uncertainty being created. That is why I have been most consistent in saying we had to get the referendum Hong Kong moves over with as soon as possible.'' Sir David said he was aware that Li Ka-Shing -- billionaire chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings), which controls Hutchison Whampoa -- was reshuffling his empire.

Fears about Bermuda losing business because of Independence were heightened recently by news that international company registrations in the first quarter of this year slipped nearly 12 percent from the same quarter in 1994.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul, however, said anyone who linked the dip with the Independence debate was misreading the statistics.

For each quarter in 1994 set a record for international company registrations -- even though the Independence debate raged off and on all last year, Dr.

Saul added.

In the South China Morning Post article, a senior manager with Price Waterhouse, Mr. Paul Mak, is quoted as saying moving assets to centres like the British Virgin Island or the Caymans was a legitimate and legal way of limiting tax.

He said the Caymans wanted to market itself as a sophisticated and ethical centre.

A tax expert interviewed by the paper said it was impossible to estimate how much Mr. Li would save on inheritance tax through his money transfer.