XL Group plc has announced that Suzanne Labarge has joined the company’s board of directors.Ms Labarge, from Ottawa, Canada, is a former vice-chairman and chief risk officer of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC Financial Group) where she was responsible for the management of enterprise-wide risk and served on the executive management committee, providing leadership for the overall strategic direction of RBC Financial Group.During her 25 years with Royal Bank of Canada, Ms Labarge held a variety of roles within commercial and corporate lending, internal audit, and corporate treasury before assuming responsibility for risk management.During her career she also served the Canadian government as an assistant auditor-general and as deputy superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada.Ms Labarge has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from McMaster University and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School.In addition to serving on the board of governors for McMaster University and as a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank AG, a global investment bank, she also served as a director and chair of the audit committee for Novelis Inc, a Canadian producer of aluminium products, until May 2007. From 2007, she has served on the board, and currently chairs the audit committee, of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.XL’s chairman, Robert Glauber, said: “We are delighted to have Suzanne join the XL board. She not only possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience in enterprise risk and financial management, she also has a deep knowledge of compliance best practices. We look forward to Suzanne’s future contributions to our board given the breadth and depth of her experience.”