nearly 12 percent from the same quarter in 1994, statistics released yesterday by the Finance Ministry show.

But Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul said anyone who links the dip with Bermuda's Independence debate is misreading the statistics.

Each quarter in 1994 set a record for international company registrations, despite the fact the Independence debate raged off and on all last year, Dr.

Saul told The Royal Gazette .

The 289 exempt and non-resident companies registered in the first quarter of 1995 still tied the record for the second-best quarter ever for international company registrations in Bermuda, he said.

While they were down 11.6 percent from the 327 companies registered in the first quarter of 1994, that quarter was Bermuda's biggest-ever, Dr. Saul said.

Government is planning to hold a referendum on Independence this summer.

Bank of Butterfield chairman and former Premier the Hon. Sir David Gibbons is among the business leaders who have said Bermuda is losing business due to the prolonged Independence debate.

"Whether we're losing business now directly attributable to the Independence debate is something that really could not be proven,'' said Dr. Saul, a member of the Cabinet committee that wrote a controversial Government discussion paper on Independence, called a Green Paper.

"There are only two things that business can do -- come, and not come. The figures show they clearly have been coming and are continuing to come.'' Dr. Saul did not expect 1995 to equal 1994, when 1,152 international companies were registered in Bermuda. But he predicted it would be the second-best year ever, surpassing the 881 companies that registered in 1993.

He noted that registrations for the first quarter of 1995 were up considerably over any first quarter other than 1994. This year's first quarter figures were also up over the record last quarter of 1994, when 268 exempt and non-resident companies were registered. That was higher than any previous fourth quarter.

Dr. Saul said: "1994 was a record year and it was out of line with the others. It was that good.'' Also in 1994, the number of mutual funds registered in Bermuda swelled to nearly 600, with net assets valued at $13.7 billion, compared to about 450 mutual funds with net assets valued at $11.2 billion at the end of 1993.

Dr. Saul believed the record year was partly due to a backlog of incorporations from international investors awaiting the outcome of the October, 1993 general election.

"There's no doubt that talk of the Independence referendum can be upsetting,'' he said. "I think you will find that once the referendum is held there will be another minor avalanche of business coming to Bermuda.'' Asked if he felt that would be the case regardless of the outcome, Dr. Saul paused, said he did not want to share his prediction on the outcome of the referendum, and said: "I would say whichever way it went there would be an increase.

"If there is any negative in this Independence debate it is the fact that it contributes to the indecision, and that leads to apprehensions which could delay people's decisions whether to incorporate in Bermuda or not.''