XL Capital Ltd. yesterday announced the appointment of Brian W. Nocco as executive vice-president and chief financial officer.

Mr. Nocco will join the company on July 23 and assume the CFO responsibilities on August 10 from Fiona Luck, XL's chief of staff, who is also serving as interim chief financial officer. XL president and chief executive officer Brian O'Hara said: "We are very pleased to have Brian join XL. His financial expertise and diverse professional background will be an asset to me and the rest of the executive management team.

"I would also like to thank Fiona for her sterling performance as interim CFO for the past four months. Her willingness to assume the CFO duties in addition to her role as chief of staff has facilitated an extremely smooth transition."

Before joining XL, Mr. Nocco was chief risk officer of Nationwide Insurance Group. From 2001 to 2005 he was senior vice-president and treasurer at Nationwide.

Prior to working for Nationwide, he was executive vice-president, corporate development of Imperial Bank and chief financial officer of two of its subsidiaries. Mr. Nocco also served as senior vice-president and chief compliance officer with The Chubb Corporation from 1994 to 1998, and treasurer and vice-president, finance of Continental Bank Corporation from 1986 to 1994.

Between 1974 and 1986, he held several progressively senior positions at Illinois-based firms. Mr. Nocco began his career with Continental Illinois National Bank.

He holds a Master of Business Administration from University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.