At a press conference in Bermuda yesterday, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced plans to open the St Regis Bermuda at the corner of Par-la-Ville Road and Church Street, overlooking Par-la-Ville Park.

The 5-star luxury hotel will offer 140 guest rooms and suites, plus 80 serviced residences. Other features include a spa, restaurant and wine bar, library, rooftop conservatory, 4000 square foot ballroom, and outdoor courtyard.

The hotel will be owned by Par-la-Ville Hotel and Residences Ltd, a partnership between Virginia-based Unified Resorts Ltd and New York-based Sagewood Investments LLC. It will be built on land owned by the Corporation of Hamilton.

Completion is scheduled for 2013.

Admission is $15 ($5 for children aged 5 – 12, free for children under 5 and senior citizens with ID) and tickets are available on the door.

There will be a special seating section for tourists with guides offering an insight into the game.

The US airline currently operates direct flights five times per week in the summer and three times per week during winter.

Dickinson Cruickshank is the largest and one of the longest established firms of advocates on the Isle of Man. Founded in 1899, it is now one of the two dominant law firms on the island with 11 partners, 27 other lawyers, 17 fiduciary service providers and a total staff of 119. It is a full service firm practicing Isle of Man law with a specific focus on corporate and commercial, private client, dispute resolution, property and fiduciary services. The firm is consistently in the top ranking in the major international legal directories and has twice been nominated as “Offshore law firm of the Year”.

Commenting on the merger, Paul Morris, Dickinson Cruickshank’s Senior Partner said: “We believe that the merger with Appleby, as a global offshore services provider, is not only a first on the island and an invaluable resource for our clients, but it will also provide a huge boost to the Isle of Man’s capabilities, status and reputation in the international offshore sector. Appleby’s global reach in the key offshore jurisdictions, its recent expansion through Mauritius into the emerging markets in India, Africa and Asia, and its market leading position in international financial centres, will have a significant impact on the breadth, range and choice of services we are able to offer to our Isle of Man and international clients.”

Peter Bubenzer, Appleby’s Global Group Managing Partner added: “The opportunity to merge with a firm of the size and quality of Dickinson Cruickshank was compelling for us. The firm’s focus on their clients’ needs and, as the offshore sector evolves, their recognition of the value to clients of truly global resources, as well as a choice of jurisdictions and structures, mirrors our own strategic thinking. The merger will position us as the leading provider of legal, fiduciary and administration services across the offshore world. Our entry into the Manx market further builds our strength and depth across multiple jurisdictions — providing greater resources and greater choice to our clients. In addition, Dickinson Cruickshank’s London presence will strengthen our offering in the UK market. The merger will provide both firms’ corporate, institutional and private clients with greater resources across the locations and time zones in which they do business and a broader choice of structures and jurisdictions, unmatched by any other offshore firm. We believe that the move will reinforce Appleby’s position as the first choice for clients in the offshore sector.”

The merger will enable Appleby to further extend the services it offers to global clients seeking high quality, sophisticated financial centres through which to invest. It follows the firm’s successful opening in Mauritius in 2008, providing clients with greater access to the high growth Middle East, Asian, Indian and African markets, and in Zurich in 2009, offering access to the range of offshore centres to private bank and institutional clients in Switzerland.

Appleby first ventured out from its Bermuda origins in 1979, with the establishment of a Guernsey office for administration clients, and this latest merger is part of a thirty year development of the firm. The firm has expanded rapidly in the last three years and now has a legal and professional staff of approximately 800. It is the only offshore legal, fiduciary and administration service provider with a major foothold in six of the world’s leading offshore business centres in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jersey, Mauritius and now Isle of Man, as well as offices in London, Hong Kong and Switzerland.

The couple are relocating to New York for work and personal reasons. 64-year old Douglas is set to play Liberace in Scott Soderbergh’s biography of the flamboyant pianist, and also star in the sequel to the 1987 blockbuster Wall Street.

The celebrity couple have rented out their home in Warwick Parish and taken their children out of Warwick Academy.

Michael Douglas has strong ties to Bermuda. He is a shareholder in the Ariel Sands hotel and his mother, Diana Dill, was born in Bermuda in 1923.

They moved to the island in 2002 and supported local organisations such as the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society, Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, Masterworks Foundation, National Dance Foundation of Bermuda, and the Bermuda International Film Festival. Douglas is a keen golfer and is a member of the Mid Ocean Club and Riddell’s Bay Golf & Country Club.

The tax treaty was Bermuda’s 12th Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TEIA). Signing it ensured the island crossed the threshold for inclusion in the list of countries that have substantially implemented the OECD’s requirement in this area.

Bermuda is the first country to be removed from the grey list. It is expected to sign more tax treaties with more OECD countries in the near future.

The Dining Room at Gibbs Hill Lighthouse opened last week. It is owned and managed by Odilio and Natalie Angeli, who also own Ristorante Primavera and the Rustico Restaurant.

The restaurant is situated on the ground floor of the restaurant in the space previously occupied by the Lighthouse Tea Room.

The first of the Summer Sundays in the Park will take place tomorrow and will feature live entertainment, island cuisine, and a children’s play area.

The events run from 3 pm until 8 pm. Other dates are June 7, July 12, August 9 and September 13.

It will run from 7 pm until 10 pm and feature live entertainment, Gombey dancers, stalls offering local arts and crafts for sale, children’s activities, food stands, and more.

Ferries depart from Royal Naval Dockyard (Kings Wharf/Heritage Wharf) at 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm, returning at 10 pm and 11 pm.

Harbour Nights run every Wednesday evening until August 26th 2009. They are organised by the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by the Pickled Onion, Hog Penny, Flanagan’s, Café Cairo, Bermuda Bistro, Norwegian Cruise Line, the Department of Tourism, and the Department of Community & Cultural Affairs.

The list was published at the end of the G20 meeting in London by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The ‘grey list’ comprised countries that had not signed Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) with at least 12 other countries.

Bermuda currently only has TIEAs with the US, UK, and Australia.

The island did, however, avoid being blacklisted and not committed to an internationally agreed tax standard.

The blacklisted countries were Malaysia, Costa Rica, Philippines, and Uruguay.

The other countries on the ‘grey list’ were Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, Dominica, Gibraltar, Grenada, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Monaco, Montserrat, Nauru, Antilles, Niue, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Vanuatu.