A brash, not-yet-30-year old Audette Exel in 1993 engineered one of the sweetest deals of the nineties, when she introduced First Curacao International Bank (FCIB) to the Bermuda Commercial Bank (BCB).

Heading the banking department of Milligan-Whyte & Smith soon after arriving in Bermuda, she attended a board meeting of BCB at the beginning of 1993. The bank was on the market.

Today, ready to quit the Island at the end of the year for Australia, the New Zealand lawyer refuses to accept all the credit for a marriage that's already seen its third anniversary, and secured a brighter future for BCB.

"I can't take the credit. There were an awful lot of people involved who made the deal happen. The bank was in a very bad state. I felt the shareholders, and Bermuda, deserved to have it get back on its feet,'' said Ms Exel.

She sold the idea to FCIB chairman and oil trader, John Deuss. By March 1993, little more than a year after arriving here, she was doing legal work that led to FCIB acquiring Barclay's Bank's 32 percent of BCB in May.

By August she was working at the bank, heading up the international department. By November, she was the acting managing director. She concedes to learning on the job, with a lot of help from staff.

"What a phenomenal opportunity that John Deuss gave me in the last three years. Yes, people were surprised and I was, too. But now leaving the bank, I can honestly say that I've had support from right across the business spectrum here, and also in the local community.

"It is something that I'm proud of and thankful for. It has been the most incredible three years of my entire working career,'' she said.

One chief regret is leaving the chair of the Bermuda Stock Exchange, at a time when she believes it is poised to build another local industry, rivalling the exchanges of Dublin and Luxembourg relatively quickly. She sees a growth in jobs, if the BSX can convince everyone to help grow Exchange business.

With the maturity of an insurance market, Bermuda must continue to attract high-quality play ers, with due care not to hinder their progress.

She noted: "It's always tempting once a market matures to start over-regulating or over-taxing it. It is critical that government and business continue to work together.

"But Bermuda is also reaching political maturity. With a number of other Bermudians, and women, I was delighted to see Jennifer Smith elected as leader of the PLP. I believe that both political parties understand, and would work in partnership with, business.

"Bermudians understand too, that political change is a part of a healthy, democratic process, and it is not something that should be terrifying.'' "But I think that everyone here could learn to better explain themselves.

Expats need to make an effort to be more integrated in the community, explain what they are doing here, what they are contributing. Labour and management need a better understanding to improve unity. Unity is good for everyone.

"I've learned from the bank staff to communicate everything, even the tough things people may not want to hear.'' "It doesn't really matter in the end, if you have the latest technology or the fanciest product. If you have unhappy staff who are rude to your clients, you are nowhere.

"But you can be the smallest bank on the Island that everybody said was going down the tubes, and was being run by a young female who knew nothing about banking. But if you have the most wildly enthusiastic, hard-working team of people working with you, you can sur prise everybody. It is a humbling lesson.'' The bank has steadily improved its bottom line by whopping 75 percent improvements, annually.

Until some time in December, she will continue to occupy a second floor office, whose gaping, near floor-length windows majestically frame the Anglican Cathedral's Church Street facade. Daily there are three reminders of the approximate time of day, as the Cathedral's carillon belts out uplifting hymns after 8 a.m., near noon and after 5 p.m.

"I love it,'' she beamed. "This has been my inspiration. I really adore it, three times a day. It is just one more thing I will miss about Bermuda. There is nothing that I won't miss about Bermuda!'' A scuba diver and avid cyclist, before she came to Bermuda she retreated from the working world for two years, cycling 6,000 miles through Europe and the Middle East.

Having worked in Hong Kong, she offers this comparison: "Hong Kong is fascinating. It operates on so many different levels that the longer you are there, the more you realise that you will never really understand it.

"I wondered whether Bermuda was a simpler society. But it is just as interesting, just as complicated. The more you get to know people, the more you see different groups of society and get involved in entirely different ways of looking at things throughout the community.

"And nobody can ask for more, than living in such a beautiful country and doing world class international business. I've never been so embraced by a community. That is part of my Kiwi culture. People there show up at your door with a side of lamb, and probably a dozen beer.'' She laughs.

"Bermuda is the same. Everybody wants you to know their family. At every level, people are friendly. It doesn't matter the problems that people have. I was incredibly lucky to end up in this bank with 67 Bermudians who treated me like family.'' Wednesday evening it was hard to find a dry eye at the RHADC when staff learned of her intended departure.

Asked about the bank's future, she is quick to respond: "The bank is positioned for substantial growth. The house is built and no one can blow it down. Maybe it is the right time to re-align my priorities, to focus on my family. It is sad to leave when the bank appears ready to take off. Nothing can stop it.'' Asked about her own future, she would only say that she has "a number of mad ideas'' that she will soon consider, one of which is to study medicine.

Although born in New Zealand, she spent some time growing up in Singapore with her journalist father working the Vietnam story. After another stint in New Zealand, she moved with the family to Australia in 1983 when she was about 19.