been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President: Mr. Thomas R. Dickson , Mr. Steven D. Germain , Mr. Frank D. Pierson , Mr. Jay S. Ralph and Ms Eileen M. Sweeney .

Mr. Dickson is in charge of Centre Re's Insurance group, with responsibility for the underwriting and development of insurance products.

He has been with the company since its inception in 1988 and previously worked in the insurance department of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in Washington, D.C.

General Counsel Mr. Germain joined Centre Re in 1988 from Wilkie Farr and Gallagher in New York, where he practised corporate, securities and insurance law. Mr. Germain is in charge of Centre Re's worldwide legal division.

Mr. Pierson, Chief Actuary, is a member of the American Academy of Actuaries and has been a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society since 1984.

He also joined Centre Re in 1988, coming from John Hancock Reinsurance Company.

Mr. Ralph heads Centre Re's Financial Risks Division, where he will focus on designing finite risk products to address corporate financing needs.

Before joining Centre Re in 1991, Mr. Ralph worked for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company for seven years, most recently serving as its investment officer.

Ms Sweeney is in charge of Centre Re's Reinsurance Group. Her responsibilities include worldwide reinsurance operations and product development. She worked as an actuary for the American International Group before joining Centre Re in 1988.

Ms Tori Cox has been chosen as the 1992 employee of the year by financial services group Telecheck Bermuda Ltd. Ms Cox has been with Telecheck for three years. Her responsibilities include overseeing the Travel and Signature Card production, as well as serving as the company's receptionist.

Ms Anna Victoria Harrison , of Devonshire, has completed a course in Coloured Stones with the California-based Gemological Institute of America and has been awarded the Institute's prestigious Coloured Stones Certificate.

Established in 1931, the non-profit Institute is an educational and research organisation serving the jewellery industry, with campuses and labs in New York and California.

To complete the course successfully, Ms Harrison had to master a range of skills relating to the quality, nature and origins of gems and their imitations.