64 percent over last year's figure, according to statistics published yesterday by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

491 companies were registered in Bermuda between January and March of this year, with only 299 registered during the same period in 1998. This quarter's total figure is also up eleven percent over last quarter's, when 451 applications to incorporate were approved.

The figure includes 394 exempted companies and fifty local companies. Exempted companies, which are not required to adhere to the 60/40 rule but cannot conduct transactions with Bermudians in Bermuda, account for a significant share of the increase, with only 225 companies registering last year. The number of local incorporations increased by just two.

Approvals of exempted partnerships, which are permitted to carry on business in or from within Bermuda, stood at eleven, while the number of overseas companies was seventeen.

Six overseas partnerships were given to go-ahead to do business, while three unit trusts were incorporated. Both figures represent an increase over the previous quarter and the same period last year. Two continuation companies -- companies from other jurisdictions continuing into Bermuda as exempted companies -- were formed, along with 8 unlimited liability companies.