Bermuda may need to make structural or legislative changes to meet the challenges of the global economic slowdown and the threat that the US will crack down on tax havens, Premier Ewart Brown said on Monday.

Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box" with host Geoff Cutmore, the Premier took questions about what a Barack Obama presidency might mean for Bermuda given that the US Democratic Presidential hopeful is a key backer of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse bill.

"Politicians are gunning for tax havens or countries that they see as havens for corporations and individuals hoping to conceal their income and assets," Mr. Cutmore said, asking Bermuda's Premier, misidentified on screen as the Island's Prime Minister, whether this was a concern.

Dr. Brown said he was "concerned" but not "overly so".

He said he was hopeful that, if President, Mr. Obama would be sensitive to the fact that "international business is to a certain extent the lifeblood of Bermuda" and would be willing to work towards a "mutually beneficial" solution.

But Dr. Brown admitted he did not know if Bermuda would even have a seat at the table if changes to restrict tax havens are put in place.

"I am hoping we will have a seat," the Premier said. "We will have a say, whether we have a seat or not. The fact is, I think the Obama camp probably doesn't have a full understanding how much Bermuda's operation means to the US. That's a little known component of this whole equation."

Dr. Brown said that between 2001 and today, Bermuda-based companies had paid out $30 billion in claims for US catastrophic events and that he believed the tax haven label was "unfair" for the Island. Pressed that these companies might have been based anywhere, the Premier answered: "Why not Bermuda?"

Dr. Brown said Bermuda has a "light touch, but yet pristine regulatory environment" and that seems to "suit" the companies operating out of the Island.

Pushed on what Bermuda would have to do to preserve its international business sector, which accounts for 60 percent of its gross national product, and whether the tax structure the Island operates might change, the Premier said Bermuda would, "of course", be prepared to make changes.

"I believe the whole environment is going to change, by the way. I think when the dust settles on this, we are going to see a different financial structure everywhere we look," the Premier said. "In the US, we're seeing some very socialistic actions by the government in order to preserve the structure itself."

The Premier consistently pushed an optimistic message for Bermuda's future, however.

"I believe that we're going to find a way, that's the first thing," Dr. Brown said. He added that Bermuda has 16 of the world's top 35 reinsurers and provides massive claims payments — pointing to the $17 billion paid out by local insurers after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

"There may be changes," he said. "There may be legislative changes, there may be structural changes but we'll make it through."

Dr. Brown's CNBC interview was just one of five media appearances he made in London on Monday. The Premier is in London attending the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meetings yesterday and today, as well as speaking to Bermudian students based in the UK.