Trust Companies Act, passed by Parliament last year.

A company linked to the Geneva-based private banking firm Lombard, Odier & Cie. was given a licence on July 23, a week after Lombard Odier International Trust Co. (Bermuda) Ltd. was incorporated.

A total of five other companies have been granted trust licences, and the Finance Ministry expects another four to six trust company applications will be approved before September 6, when the Act becomes effective.

Lombard Odier Int'l. Trust is the first and only trust set up by an offshore company. The five other Bermuda-based trusts are the Bank of Bermuda Ltd., Bermuda Trust Company Ltd. set up by the Bank of Bermuda, Cedar Trust Co. Ltd.

set up by law firm Richards, Francis and Francis, Colyb Trust Co. Ltd. and Colica Trust Co. Ltd. set up by the partners of chartered accountants Cooper & Lines and Coopers & Lybrand.

Government took the first step in lifting a six-year-old ban on new trust companies in June last year when it introduced legislation to regulate them.

The ban restricted the number of players in the lucrative trust business to six existing companies owned by the Island's three banks and three of its law firms -- Conyers Dill & Pearman, Appleby Spurling & Kempe and Hallett Whitney & Patton.

Trust companies manage trust funds, generally set up by wealthy individuals to protect their money and other assets from taxes, political upheaval and other threats. They are believed to account for a significant and growing part of the Island's international business income.

Under the Trust Companies Act, trust companies are to be supervised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Requirements include adequate insurance, paid-up capital of at least $250,000 and the staff and premises necessary to carry on a legitimate trust business.

Lombard Odier Int'l. Trust Co. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bermuda-based management company Lombard Odier Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd., which is owned directly by the banking firm in Geneva.

Lombard Odier's Bermuda trust is represented by corporate lawyers at Mello, Hollis, Jones & Martin, but the law firm expects the trust will soon have its own office and staff here. The trust will initially be capitalised at US$1 million.

Lombard, Odier & Cie. is one of the world's top 100 money managers with assets under management of more than $36 billion. It has a strong North American presence through its Canadian subsidiary, as well as being dominant in Great Britain. It has offices in Jersey, Guernsey, Gibraltar and Amsterdam.

The company, established in 1798, employs about 700 people, with the majority based in Switzerland.

Cedar Trust, set up by Richards, Francis and Francis, is being run by Mr.

Robert Miller, a New Zealand lawyer recently hired by the firm. He will be the company's managing director.

Mr. Miller, together with senior partner Mr. Arnold Francis, said Cedar Trust will be marketing itself primarily in Europe, the Far East, and North America.

Both agreed the trust company will not only enhance Richards, Francis and Francis as a law firm, but will also help bolster the Island's banking business.

The partners of Cooper & Lines have been in the trust business acting as trustees for about 30 years, according to senior partner Mr. Dick Butterfield.

He said the trust licences would simply formalise the firm's existing trust business by allowing them to use corporate trustees rather than individual trustees.