XL Capital Ltd. is to move its holding company’s domicile from the Cayman Islands to Ireland, the Bermuda insurance industry leader said today.

XL said it expects the move to take place by July, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

XL spokeswoman Carol Parker Trott said the move was not expected to have any effect on XL’s Bermuda operations. The move follows a similar redomiciling by competitor Ace Ltd. from Cayman to Switzerland in 2008.

XL chief executive officer Michael McGavick, said in a statement: "We believe that changing XL’s place of incorporation from the Caymans to Ireland is in the best interests of XL and our shareholders. Among other benefits, we believe the proposed move will reduce certain risks that may impact us and offer us the opportunity to reinforce our reputation, which is one of our key assets, and to better support our global business platforms.

"The new XL Group name is desirable to reflect our exclusive focus on providing property, casualty and specialty insurance and reinsurance products for our customers’ complex risks."

To effect the redomestication, a new Irish public limited company, XL Group plc, would replace XL Capital Ltd as the ultimate holding company of the XL group of companies, and the Company's ordinary shareholders would receive one ordinary share of the new Irish company in lieu of each ordinary share of the Company held by them, the statement said.

XL said it expects to submit the proposal for redomestication to its shareholders in the next several months and complete the transaction on July 1, 2010.

The proposed redomestication must get approval from the company's ordinary shareholders and the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands.

The statement added: "XL has operated in Ireland for most of its corporate history and is very familiar with its regulatory and legal environment. Ireland has strong international relationships as a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union, a long history of international investment, and long-established commercial relationships, trade agreements and tax treaties with the other European Union member states, the United States and other countries around the world.

"As a result, XL believes Ireland offers a stable long-term legal and regulatory environment with the financial sophistication to meet the needs of XL's global business."

XL said it did not expect the redomestication to have any material impact on its financial results. The company will continue to be registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and be subject to SEC reporting requirements, would be subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the applicable corporate governance rules of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and would continue to report its financial results in U.S. dollars and under US generally accepted accounting principles, in addition to any reporting requirements under Irish law.

The Company’s shares will continue to trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol XL.

Stay tuned to www.theroyalgazette.com for further updates and see tomorrow’s Royal Gazette for full details.