look to insurance for its next `piece of the rock'.

Peter Caruana, chief minister of Gibraltar, said last week that the UK dependent territory will "accelerate its plan to become a captive and cross-border insurance centre.'' He also said: "As a government, we are wholly committed to the development of Gibraltar as a credible and responsible financial centre providing cross-border services, and the development of the insurance sector forms a very important part of our plans. We aim to become a major player.'' But Gibraltar, as a cross-border -- synonymous with offshore -- centre, is unlikely to pose a competitive threat to Bermuda.

The European jurisdiction lists Dublin, Guernsey and Luxembourg as its competitors.

Bermuda is considered more a jurisdiction to emulate, Chris Johnson, manager of the captive management division of Norwich Union Gibraltar, said. Mr.

Johnson heads a joint marketing effort by business and government.

He said that links to Bermuda are more apt to be co-operative than competitive.

Gibraltar, with similar facilities in terms of tax exemption and insurance legislation as other jurisdictions, has for several years been an option for the establishment of offshore insurance companies. Some companies have domiciled captives in Gibraltar. It is believed a Bermuda rent-a-captive of AIG has established a captive in Gibraltar. A spokesman could not be reached.

Currently, only 13 insurance companies are Gibraltar domiciled. Of them, six are pure captives, Mr. Johnson said.