Princess Hotel that will provide for the US tax professional an in-depth consideration of federal income tax issues, as it relates to offshore insurance.

Sponsored by the prestigious Hartford Institute on Insurance Taxation, The Thirteenth Offshore Insurance Operations Conference will include practical insights into how tax issues arise in the context of the formation of limited purposes insurance company.

Special guest speakers include Finance Minister Grant Gibbons and president of Inter-Ocean Management Ltd. Bermuda, Brian R. Hall, who will deliver a luncheon address.

Mr. Hall is chairman of the Insurance Advisory Committee, which briefs Government on insurance issues. He has also this year been named chairman of the board of governors of the Bermuda College, and last year founded the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies, which provides funding for Bermuda insurance students.

The Hartford Institute is a division of the Center for Tax Education and Research, a non-profit educational foundation, dedicated to excellence in continuing professional education.

Its executive director, Professor Bernard B. Goodman, said, "This year's programme will add topics which will cover the spectrum of issues involving offshore insurance companies, including issues relating to the use of derivatives and finite risk coverages and for the first time, issues relating to offshore insurers and reinsurers formed to write life products and, a discussion of rent-a-captives.'' Normally sited in Washington D.C., the annual conference could become a yearly fixture on Bermuda's conference calendar.

Professor Goodman said: "This site (Southampton Princess in Bermuda) provides convenient access to not only the local insurance and financial centres but also to interested persons worldwide.

"This makes possible one of the great benefits of all CTER conferences -- the opportunity for interchange of information and establishment of personal contacts with leading peers in the field, not only during the plenary sessions but during the lunches, breaks, and reception as well.

"Attendance at this conference will provide you with an unparalleled opportunity to advance your knowledge of offshore insurance operations.'' Dr. Gibbons will deliver the key note address as the conference opens February 17, before discussions begin on some 17 subjects, including the changing uses of captive insurers, federal excise taxes and US tax concerns of foreign insurers and reinsurers.

TAXES TAX