Restrictions lifted on the sale of life insurance will be a boost for a Bermuda-based company.

VL Assurance, part of the Valor Group, had a private Act of Parliament aimed at broadening its range of services signed into law by Governor George Fergusson this week.

The Act allow the firm to expand the meaning of “insurable interest” to allow it to issue life insurance policies across a wider range than just relatives, as is the case under the existing public Act of Parliament.

VL Assurance will also be allowed to pay out in the event of the death of an insured direct into the relevant segregated account, which also would not have been allowed under the public Act.

The private Act was backed by Valor Management, also based in Bermuda, which acts as an insurance management company.

Valor Management CEO Louis Zuckerbraun said: “Bermuda is recognised as a premier jurisdiction for the insurance industry.

“It enjoys a collaborative business culture where Government and business leaders work together towards world-class standards in compliance, regulation, transparency and infrastructure.

“These factors make it an ideal location from which to purchase insurance and annuity products that help protect, grow and transfer personal and business assets.”

Valor Group is a multibillion dollar group of companies aimed at providing private placement insurance for wealthy clients around the world.

Valor Management said that the change in the legal framework would give it “greater flexibility” to create specialised wealth planning and preservation services for its client base.

Mr Zuckerbraun added: “Our goal is to provide the most sophisticated and secure product portfolio available.

“To that end, we worked diligently with the Bermuda Government to go one step further to enhance our product platform for our clients and ensure we could offer more of the complete and complex planning and product solutions they need to prosper.

“The VL Assurance (Bermuda) Ltd Act 2015 is the result of these efforts and we are excited to be able to extend its benefits.”

In addition to Bermuda, Valor Group, part of the COR Group, includes insurance companies and other financial services enterprises in Barbados, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Ireland.

Private bills are presented to Parliament on behalf of an association or group of individuals and are always tabled and read in the House of Assembly by a backbencher.

In most cases, the member who introduces a private bill is from the ruling party.