Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings is no longer a Bermuda-based company.

Yesterday the class of 2005 reinsurer announced it had completed the change of corporate domicile to Luxembourg, after the completion of legal formalities in Bermuda and the tiny Grand Duchy, which has a population of around half a million.

Flagstone also revealed its shareholders had approved the move at the company's annual general meeting last Friday.

Simultaneously, Flagstone announced that its board had authorised an up to $50 million expansion of its share repurchase programme.

The company said the decision was "based on the positive long-term outlook for the business and its healthy capital adequacy" and was aimed at optimising shareholder value.

While a string of multinational corporations which had minimal presence on the Island have moved their headquarters out of Bermuda in the past couple of years, Flagstone in the first large re/insurer to redomesticate from Bermuda.

Ace Ltd. moved its holding company to Switzerland in 2008 and XL Capital shareholders have approved its plans to redomesticate to Ireland - but both companies previously had their holding companies in the Cayman Islands, not Bermuda.

When Flagstone first announced the planned move to Luxembourg two months ago, chief executive officer David Brown said the Bermuda operation, which employs some 55 people, would be unaffected. Mr. Brown added that he would remain based on the Island.

Flagstone's shares will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange and on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.