A professor of business from a top US university said Bermuda was a clean jurisdiction.

Professor Arthur Reed, from Bentley University in Massachusetts, said: “I’ve always been impressed by Bermuda’s role in the financial services area.

“The professionals I know on the island, I’ve always had the highest regard for, whether they be Bermudian, from the UK or the US.”

Professor Reed was speaking as he and a group of his students who are on a tour of the business landscape of Bermuda met senior figures at the Bermuda Business Development Agency.

It it the tenth successive year he has a led a group of business students to the island.

Professor Reed said that the Bermuda business model was a good one, with strong regulation.

He added: “From my perspective, it does work — a business can come to Bermuda, set up a captive with a stable government and a strong regulatory environment. That’s an important part of being able to conduct business.”

Professor Reed and his group of ten students, all studying for master’s degrees in accountancy, tax law and business administration, are on the island for two weeks, visiting business headquarters, as well as financial regulators the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Professor Reed said: “I have confidence in the people that are conducting the audits. I talk to the people at the BMA and I know they are good.

“Bermuda has top people in great positions who provide good service to their clients.”

And he added that he had looked through the massive leak of papers from a Panama law firm, which lifted the lid on dodgy offshore dealings, and noted that Bermuda had not been hit by the fallout.

Professor Reed said: “Delaware and Nevada are more secretive than Bermuda is.”

He added he was impressed by Bermuda’s strict anti-money laundering and “know your customer” philosophy.

And he said: “We have gone through all the things that are part and parcel of what is done here and these provisions have some pretty serious consequences if you violate them.”

Professor Reed added: “We have had a lot of great business support down here over the years.

“It’s good because the students get to understand the role that Bermuda plays in the financial services area.

“They get the real world experience of hearing from businesses what it is they actually do as opposed to just reading about it.”