based on current shareholders’equity, market conditions and the Company’s total risk tolerance. It is important to note that when assessing the risk of the Company’s investment portfolio, the Company does not take into account either the value or risk associated with the liabilities arising from the Company’s operations.
The Company carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of the Company’s management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Controller, of the effectiveness of disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Controller concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures are effective to provide reasonable assurance that all material information relating to the Company required to be included in this report has been made known to them in a timely fashion.
There have been no changes in internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the Company’s evaluation required pursuant to Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that occurred during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
PART II–OTHER INFORMATION
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ITEM 1. | | LEGAL PROCEEDINGS |
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The Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims, as described in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010. Material developments to such proceedings during the three months ended June 30, 2011 are described below.
In August 2005, plaintiffs in a proposed class action (the “Class Action”) that was consolidated into a multidistrict litigation in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, captioned In re Brokerage Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1663, Civil Action No. 04-5184 (the “MDL”), filed a consolidated amended complaint (the “Amended Complaint”), which named as new defendants approximately 30 entities, including Greenwich Insurance Company, Indian Harbor Insurance Company and XL-Cayman (the “XL Defendants”). In the MDL, the Class Action plaintiffs asserted various claims purportedly on behalf of a class of commercial insureds against approximately 113 insurance companies and insurance brokers through which the named plaintiffs allegedly purchased insurance. The Amended Complaint alleged that the defendant insurance companies and insurance brokers conspired to manipulate bidding practices for insurance policies in certain insurance lines and failed to disclose certain commission arrangements and asserted statutory claims under the Sherman Act, various state antitrust laws and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), as well as common law claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment. By Opinion and Order dated August 31, 2007, the District Court dismissed the Sherman Act claims with prejudice and, by Opinion and Order dated September 28, 2007, the District Court dismissed the RICO claims with prejudice. The plaintiffs then appealed both Orders to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. On August 16, 2010, the Third Circuit affirmed in large part the District Court’s dismissal. The Third Circuit reversed the dismissal of certain Sherman Act and RICO claims alleged against several defendants including the XL Defendants but remanded those claims to the District Court for further consideration of their adequacy. In light of its reversal and remand of certain of the federal claims, the Third Circuit also reversed the District Court’s dismissal (based on the District Court’s declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction) of the state-law claims against all defendants. On October 1, 2010, the remaining defendants, including the XL Defendants, filed motions to dismiss the remanded federal claims and the state-law claims. The motions were fully briefed in November 2010. In May 2011, a majority of the remaining defendants, including the XL Defendants, executed a formal Settlement Agreement settling the Class Action with prejudice. The settlement was preliminarily approved by the District Court in June 2011 and a final fairness hearing is scheduled for September 2011.The XL Defendants’ portion of the defendants’ aggregate settlement payment is $6.75 million.
Various XL entities have been named as defendants in three of the many tag-along actions that have been consolidated into the MDL for pretrial purposes. The complaints in these tag-along actions make allegations similar to those made in the Amended Complaint but do not purport to be class actions. On April 4, 2006, a tag-along complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on behalf of New Cingular Wireless Headquarters LLC and several other corporations and remains pending against approximately 100 defendants, including Greenwich Insurance Company, XL Specialty Insurance Company, XL Insurance America, Inc., XL Insurance Company Limited and XL-Cayman. On or about May 21, 2007, a tag-along complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of Henley Management Company, Big Bear Properties, Inc., Northbrook Properties, Inc., RCK Properties, Inc., Kitchens, Inc., Aberfeldy LP and Payroll and Insurance Group, Inc. against multiple defendants, including “XL Winterthur International.” On October 12, 2007, a complaint in a third tag-along action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia by Sears, Roebuck & Co., Sears Holdings Corporation, Kmart Corporation and Lands’ End Inc. against many named defendants including X.L. America, Inc., XL Insurance America, Inc., XL Specialty Insurance Company and XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd. The tag-along actions, including the three in which the XL entities are named defendants, remain stayed.
By Order dated June 20, 2011, the District Court reassigned the Class Action and the various tag-along actions from Chief Judge Brown to newly-appointed Judge Claire Cecchi.
The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to litigation and arbitration in the normal course of its business. These lawsuits and arbitrations principally involve claims on policies of insurance and contracts of reinsurance and are typical for the Company and for the property and casualty insurance and reinsurance industry in general. Such legal proceedings are considered in connection with the Company’s loss and loss expense reserves. Reserves in varying amounts may or may not be established in respect of particular claims proceedings based on many factors, including the legal merits thereof. In addition to litigation relating to insurance and reinsurance claims, the Company and its subsidiaries are subject to lawsuits and regulatory actions in the normal course of business that do not arise from or directly relate to claims on insurance or reinsurance policies. This category of business litigation typically involves, among other things, allegations of underwriting errors or misconduct, employment claims, regulatory activity, shareholder disputes or disputes arising from business ventures. The status of these legal actions is actively monitored by management.
Legal actions are subject to inherent uncertainties, and future events could change management’s assessment of the probability or estimated amount of potential losses from pending or threatened legal actions. Based on available information, it is the opinion of management that the ultimate resolution of pending or threatened legal actions, both individually and in the aggregate, will not result in losses having a material adverse effect on the Company’s position or liquidity at June 30, 2011.
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For a discussion of the Company’s potential risks or uncertainties, please see “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of the Company’s 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other than as described below, there have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in Part I, Item 1A of the Company’s 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Any downgrade of the United States’ credit rating could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In light of the possibility of the United States reaching its debt ceiling by August 2, 2011, each of Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”), Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings had publicly warned of the possibility of a downgrade to the United States’ credit rating. In addition, Moody’s, on July 13, 2011, and Standard & Poor’s, on July 14, 2011, put the U.S. credit rating on negative watch.
On August 2, 2011, the U.S. Congress passed, and President Obama signed, a bill that increases the debt ceiling and requires reductions in spending by up to $2.4 trillion. Following the passage of the bill, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings both indicated that they do not currently anticipate downgrading the U.S. credit rating. However, Moody’s lowered its outlook on U.S. debt to negative upon affirming its AAA rating, and concern remains that Standard & Poor’s may not view the U.S. government’s plan to reduce its budget deficit as adequate and may take downward ratings action with respect to the U.S. credit rating.
The impact of such downgrade is inherently unpredictable and could have a material adverse effect on financial markets and economic conditions in the United States and throughout the world. In turn, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations including with respect to assets in our investment portfolio, as well as assets in trusts or other collateral arrangements posted by or to us. See Note 5, “Investments,” to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for a description of our fixed income securities and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources” for a description of our collateral and liquidity needs.
For a discussion of the risks to our business during or following a financial market disruption and risks to our investment portfolio, see also the risk factor entitled “We are exposed to significant capital markets risk related to changes in interest rates, credit spreads, equity prices and foreign exchange rates as well as other investment risks, which may adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows” included in “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010.
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ITEM 2. | | UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS |
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(c) Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliate Purchasers
The following table provides information about purchases by the Company during the three months ended June 30, 2011 of equity securities that are registered by the Company pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act:
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Period | | | Total Number of Shares Purchased (1) | | Average Price Paid per Share | | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs | | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (2) | |
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April 1-30, 2011 | | | — | | $ | — | | | — | | $ | 690.4 million | |
May 1-31, 2011 | | | 1,407 | | | 17.70 | | | — | | | 690.4 million | |
June 1-30, 2011 | | | 4,320,640 | | | 21.36 | | | 4,320,640 | | | 598.1 million | |
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Total | | | 4,322,047 | | $ | 21.36 | | | 4,320,640 | | $ | 598.1 million | |
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(1) | Shares purchased in connection with the vesting of restricted shares granted under the Company’s restricted stock plan do not represent shares purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs. All such purchases were made in connection with satisfying tax withholding obligations of those employees. These shares were not purchased as part of the Company’s share buyback program noted below. |
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(2) | On November 2, 2010, the Company announced that its Board of Directors approved a share buyback program, authorizing the Company to purchase up to $1.0 billion of its ordinary shares. During 2010, the Company purchased and cancelled 6.9 million ordinary shares under this program for $144.0 million. During the first quarter of 2011, the Company purchased and cancelled 7.3 million ordinary shares under this program for $165.6 million. During the second quarter of 2011, the Company purchased and cancelled 4.3 million ordinary shares under this program for $92.3 million. Between July 1 and August 2, 2011, the Company purchased and cancelled an additional 7.3 million ordinary shares for $157.7 million. All share buybacks were carried out by way of redemption in accordance with Irish law and the Company’s constitutional documents. All shares so redeemed were canceled upon redemption. At August 2, 2011, $440.4 million remained available to be used for purchases under this program. |
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ITEM 6. | | EXHIBITS | |
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The following exhibits are filed as exhibits to this Quarterly Report: |
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31* | | Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certifications |
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32* | | Section 1350 Certification |
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101.INS* | | XBRL Instance Document** |
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101.SCH* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document** |
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101.CAL* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document** |
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101.LAB* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document** |
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101.PRE* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document** |
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101.DEF* | | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document** |
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* | Filed herewith. |
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** | These interactive data files are furnished and deemed not filed or part of a registration statement or prospectus for purposes of Sections 11 or 12 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, are deemed not filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and otherwise are not subject to liability under those sections. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
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Date: August 4, 2011 | |
| XL Group plc |
| (Registrant) |
| /s/ MICHAEL S. MCGAVICK |
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| Name: Michael S. McGavick |
| Title: Chief Executive Officer and Director |
| XL Group plc |
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Date: August 4, 2011 | |
| /s/ STEPHEN J. H. ROBB |
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| Name: Stephen J. H. Robb |
| Title: Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller |
| XL Group plc |
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