Bermuda officials said reinsurers and primary insurersincorporating there last year totaled 82--a three-year high for theisland.

This was an almost 10 percent increase in the number of newcompanies incorporated in the jurisdiction over 2005, the BermudaMonetary Authority reported.

A majority of the new companies were large, highly capitalizedreinsurers, BMA said, adding that captive insurance companies alsoformed a significant proportion of the new incorporations.

BMA said the 82 incorporations compare very favorably withnumbers from other jurisdictions such as Cayman Islands, 50;Vermont, 37; and South Carolina, 29.

Jeremy Cox, BMA supervisor of insurance, said his operation ispleased by "a clear indication of the continued confidence themarket has in Bermuda as a leading global insurance and reinsurancecenter and the practical, effective regulatory framework in placehere."

Mr. Cox added that Bermuda remains focused on maintaining itsleadership position as a captive domicile: "There is a collectiverecognition and commitment to the fact that captives remain a keyelement of the mix of high quality (re)insurance business conductedin Bermuda."

By example, he said, BMA is very supportive of initiatives suchas the Bermuda Captives Conference and being part of Bermuda'spresence at other international events focused on captivebusiness."

Bermuda continues to attract large commercial reinsurers andcaptives, as well as the primary market, he noted, pointing to therecent establishment in Bermuda of Class 4 insurer Ironshore Ltd.,"as well as the wave of reinsurance companies from the UK,including Hiscox Re, Omega Re and Amlin Re..."

Shanna Lespere, deputy director at the BMA, said, "Over the pastyear on the captive side we have continued to see interestsurrounding Bermuda's servicing of the health care industry, aswell as renewed interest in employee benefit programsolutions."

She said on the commercial side the most significant trend wasthe formation of a number of reinsurance sidecars, which enteredthe market to take advantage of capacity gaps in the property andcatastrophe arena. "Even in the early part of 2007 we continue tosee interest in this area," said Ms. Lespere.

The incorporations are a success for Bermuda not just in number,Ms. Lespere said, "but also the high quality of the sponsors behindthese companies, as well as the continued increases in premiumvolume written we have been recording over the years."

Statistics for 2005, the latest available, show a total of$100.7 billion gross premiums written by the Bermuda market,compared with $95.3 billion the previous year.