American investors held more than $116 billion in Bermuda-registered businesses in 2003 ? making the Island the ninth most popular country in the world for US overseas investments, according to the US Treasury Department.

Americans held $3.152 trillion of foreign securities in 2003, the Department said yesterday. The number was revised slightly downward from the $3.153 trillion previously reported in December, 2004.

The total dollar value of US holdings of foreign securities rose 36 percent since the last survey as of year-end 2001, according to a survey by the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Reserve.

The total number of US holdings rose to $3.152 trillion at the end of 2003 from $2.317 trillion at the end of 2001.

Holdings of foreign securities by country was unchanged from preliminary results. US investors held $663 billion in securities from the United Kingdom, $307 billion from Japan, $301 billion from Canada and $189 billion from Germany.

Bermuda was ninth after France, the Netherlands, the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. Australia was tenth.

Of the $116 billion held in Bermuda, 108 billion was held in equities while $9 billion was held in long-term debt securities.