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 regulatory approval.

XL spokeswoman Carol Parker Trott did not immediately return phone calls on what effect the move would have on XL’s operating headquarters in Bermuda.

The move follows a similar redomiciling by competitor Ace Ltd. from Cayman to Switzerland in 2008.

XL chief executive officer Michael McGavick said: 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.

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.

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