years, according to managing director Mr. Richard Francis.

And negotiations to sell Barclays Bank's one-third stake in the business are expected to accelerate now that the scaling down of the BCB's retail operation is almost complete.

BCB's move away from retail banking, which began 14 months ago, has left Mr.

Francis optimistic for its future.

"The Bank is doing wonderfully, extremely well,'' he said. "The Bank's been operating for some considerable time now. The restructuring of our retail business been very well received by our clients.'' The Bank was in firm control of its future, he said.

"Problems that have been experienced by banks and other companies globally have been occasioned by over-expansion, almost without exception,'' he added.

"There was unbridled growth during the 1980s which caused all manner of problems.

"The fact that a company takes stock of its situation, as we have done, and downsizes is a very positive move.

"It shows that the Bank has a very clear picture of what it wants to achieve and is prepared to take immediate steps to achieve that goal.

"This is much more preferable to labouring on in blind ignorance of the economic situation.'' Mr. Francis said his bank was in a "very strong'' financial position at the moment. "There's an international measurement of the strength of a bank's balance sheet and our bank is extremely strong on that scale,'' he said.

Bermuda Commercial Bank was badly undervalued on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, where its shares are currently valued at $4 each, he said.

"From anyone's calculation of the net asset value of the bank, on that basis alone, the shares are well undervalued,'' he said.

"But that's true of other companies on the Exchange. There's very little true investment activity. Much of the share selling and purchase activity centres on the redistribution of a deceased's assets.'' Mr. Francis said BCB's scale-down of its retail operation had taken longer than expected but was now almost complete, which could accelerate the sale of Barclays' stake in the business.

"Bermuda Commercial Bank is in very active negotiations with a number of parties interested in acquiring Barclays' shares,'' he said. "Some negotiations are more advanced than others.

"There's been a considerable amount of interest from international banks. One of the reasons that progress has been slower than we would have hoped is we've been restructuring or scaling down our retail activity.

"That's taken quite a while, longer than we had hoped, but it's coming to an end now. We've just about completed the process. Now that the picture's stopped moving it's going to be easier too for the parties negotiating to move forward.'' Mr. Francis announced that the Bank was planning a major refurbishment to its headquarters on Church Street, Hamilton.

BCB will shortly be starting an extensive building programme at the site which will include a brand new facade and upgrading of offices.

Another development concerns BCB's mortgage company, which is being moved to a site in Queen Street, in Hamilton.