Mr. Matthew Elderfield, CEO of the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), issued a press statement on 7 October 2008 to alleviate concern and uncertainty in Bermuda arising from the widespread instability within the global financial sector. Mr Elderfield noted that the BMA, along with the Bermuda Government, continued to assess the impact on the local economy of this widespread instability and would continue to monitor the impact of sub-prime on the Bermuda market. However Mr Elderfield emphasized that the strength, quality and resilience of Bermuda’s financial market meant that Bermuda was well placed for the current challenging environment.

The BMA’s priority has been to ensure that stability in Bermuda’s local market is maintained for customers using those services and also for the long term health of the local economy. The BMA’s ongoing analysis on the impact of sub-prime in Bermuda has shown that the market in Bermuda has proved, to date, to be resilient. Mr Elderfield reinforced what he said at the BIBA Roundtable conference in New York on 30 September 2008, that no Bermuda bank has suffered a credit rating downgrade as a result of the sub-prime crisis and Bermuda’s banking system remains well capitalized and subject to strict oversight by the BMA. Bermuda’s insurance sector also has limited investment exposure to sub-prime and the BMA continues to work with a few firms that are most impacted through their financial guaranty business.

For a full copy of the press statement, please click here.