the first black man into the senior management structure in the bank's more than a century of history.

Mr. Alan F. Richardson, a chartered accountant who joined the bank at the same time new president and CEO, Mr. Charles Vaughan-Johnson did six years ago, is promoted to senior vice president of retail banking.

He had been senior manager in retail banking. His is the only new face on the senior management team.

The changes, which take effect on July 1, indicate a shift to a more modern management structure, said Mr. Vaughan-Johnson yesterday.

Where former president Mr. Donald Lines was involved in most major decisions, the new system will leave senior people responsible for their own departments.

Under modern management principles, decision-making no longer requires the precious time of executives all the way to the top of an organisation, when the senior person in that department is capable of dealing with the issue alone, Mr. Vaughan-Johnson explained.

The arrival of a fresh face at the management level was first hinted at almost a month ago when, just a day from retirement, Mr. Lines, confronted by a Royal Gazette reporter with the fact there were no blacks or women in senior management, stated that someone was being groomed "right now''.

Mr. Vaughan-Johnson said of Mr. Richardson, "He's an outstanding organiser, administrator and manager. And he has got there (to the executive) entirely by merit. He has been coming through the ranks fast.

"He relates very well to all sectors of the community. He's very personable and I'm sure that you will see a lot more of him.'' The changes at the bank yesterday were only the first round of "spring cleaning'' for the Island's largest institution that should be completed by the end of June.

"This is just the first cut,'' Mr. Vaughan-Johnson said. "There will be other changes to the senior management structure over the next 60 days. There could be one more person joining this level. The whole picture will have emerged perhaps by the end of June.'' Later changes will mostly affect the middle management.

The entire management structure of the bank is being changed to conform to the new style of corporate management that has swept the western world. Other local companies here have already begun to make the change.

"The way the management structure is here is that we have a totally non-executive board of directors,'' said Mr. Vaughan-Johnson. "Non of the senior management of the bank, including me, is on the board of directors.

It's totally non-executive, which is exactly the way the world is going in terms of corporate governance these days.

"And then the people who run the bank on a day to day basis are the members of the executive management committee, which is its full name, generally known as the executive or the executive committee. And that's what we've been just looking at. And then below that there is a structure of senior management that goes on running departments and so on as it goes down through the structure.

"Now the conventional way of doing that has been very hierarchical, very vertical. One cannot manage businesses like that anymore these days, especially not one that now has ten offices around the world, like us.

"We are pushing that out, we are pushing it down to a more horizontal structure, with major responsibilities being devolved from this office (the office of president and CEO), which is where it all accumulated, out to a number of senior managers and so on down throughout the organisation. That way we manage both the product areas and the geographical areas more effectively.'' The effect is to increase the responsibilities of almost all the senior personnel. The reorganisation of senior management responsibilities is designed to flatten the structure of the company and pass responsibility down to the various divisions.

The bank's move comes in the wake of massive growth in the last two or three decades that in some ways has brought a cumbersome nature to its management.

The changes, said the bank chief, are to avoid the bank becoming a victim of that success.

"We believe this approach empowers people to make their own decisions on their areas of responsibility and will ultimately result in visibly better service for our customers,'' Mr. Vaughan-Johnson said.

"The ultimate goal is to give staff more input into improving the bank's services. With increased responsibility and increased accountability, customers will certainly benefit and employees will be rewarded more fully.'' Key changes are being made in the banking division and the asset management and administration. Management shifts have also occurred in domestic trust activities and the bank's expanding international subsidiaries.

The responsibility for all worldwide banking activities, including retail, corporate, private and personal banking will fall under the banking division, headed up by newly-appointed executive vice president, banking, Mr. Barry Shailer, who is being brought back from London.

Mr. Cummings V. Zuill is president of the Bermuda Trust Company Ltd. and his vice president and general manager is Mr. Graham Richardson. The company is to be the flagship for the international private trust activities of the bank under the private client division.

Executive vice president of corporate trust, systems and operations, Mr. Luis A. Douglas, continues to head the corporate trust activities globally. Mr.

William D. Thomson, set to retire in October, continues to be responsible, along with Mr. Peter Mellor, president of Bermuda International Investment Management Ltd., for directing all of the bank's international investment services.

BANK TEAM: (from left) Mr. Luis A. Douglas; Mr. Alan F. Richardson; Mr. Henry B. Smith; Mr. Charles Vaughan-Johnson; Mr. Louis K. Mowbray; Mr. Peter Mellor; Mr. Arthur E. Haycock.