management sector is likely in the near future, the Island's top bank regulator has warned.

Bermuda Monetary Authority chairman Mr. Mansfield (Jimmy) Brock said yesterday a voluntary code of conduct adopted by investment management companies "is "insufficient for the long-term''.

"Legislation is required to control the activities of the domestic investment companies, and to make illegal such activities as insider trading and money laundering,'' Mr. Brock told Hamilton Rotarians.

"I have no doubt that such legislation will be enacted in the not-too-distant future,'' said Mr. Brock, who was speaking on the role of the BMA which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

Mr. Brock could not be reached for further comment, but Mr. Robert Pires, chairman of the Bermuda Association of Securities Dealers, said the new regulations are vague, but succeeded in forming an agreement on appropriate conduct.

"We can endorse making the code more definitive. However, the BMA doesn't presently have the resources to enforce tougher regulations, which will evolve over time,'' he said.

Ms Marcia Allwood, deputy manager at the BMA, said more information would be released on the subject shortly.

The code, agreed by local non-bank investment management companies, establishes minimum requirements, based on international standards, of professional conduct for practitioners in the investment services in Bermuda.

The code was developed under the auspices of the Investment Services Advisory Committee, a committee formed by the Authority in 1992, which comprises representatives from the three banks, the Bermuda Association of Securities Dealers, the Bermuda Society of Financial Analysts, and the BMA.

Latest BMA figures show there are about 375 collective investment schemes operating out of Bermuda with an aggregated net asset value in excess of $7.83 billion.

Other businesses have sprouted as a result of the growing volume of investment management business, such as global custody, valuation, registrar and transfer agency services to the major international fund managers, said Mr. Brock.

The authorised capital of the Authority is $30 million -- $9.04 million paid up as at 31 December 1993.

During his speech he described some of the key objects of the authority as satisfying the local demand for Bermuda Dollar currency, and also obtaining information about the financial position, operations and policies of the main financial institutions operating in and from within Bermuda.

Mr. Mansfield Brock.