XL Mid Ocean Re President Comments On Reinsurance Renewal Season

Hamilton, Bermuda: 4 January 2000 - XL Mid Ocean Reinsurance Ltd ("XLMO") President and Chief Executive Officer Henry C.V. Keeling said today that he believes excess of loss reinsurance pricing increased in line with the market's expectations during the year-end 2000 renewal season. Despite this, he said that he was of the view that there is still a significant way to go before prices return to the levels seen only three or four years ago.

Mr. Keeling's remarks, which were confined to the general state of the reinsurance markets and did not specifically address XLMO's operations, were made during an investment conference call organized by Merrill Lynch & Co.

Mr. Keeling said that the reinsurance market had sought higher prices to reflect changing market conditions and noted that these higher price levels had been mostly realized during the year-end renewals. Commenting specifically on pricing in specialty lines, including marine, aviation, energy and space, Mr. Keeling estimated that rate increases had averaged approxmiately 15 to 40 percent depending on the line of business.

He said he anticipated that overall reinsurance price rises could continue through the year, possibly at a higher level than at present if capacity continues to shrink.

Next week, Mr. Keeling will comment more fully on market conditions during a discussion of the January renewals and the outlook for property and casualty pricing sponsored by The Association of Insurance and Financial Analysts. Mr. Keeling's remarks at this meeting, which will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York, will be webcast live at approximately 12.30 p.m. EST on Tuesday January 9, 2001. The webcast may be accessed through the XL web site: www.xl-capital.com .

XLMO is a subsidiary of XL Capital Ltd which, through its subsidiaries, is a leading provider of insurance and reinsurance coverages and financial products to industrial, commercial and professional service firms, insurance companies, and other enterprises on a worldwide basis. As of September 30, 2000, XL Capital Ltd had consolidated assets of approximately $16.4 billion and shareholders' equity of approximately $5.6 billion.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current plans, estimates and expectations. Accordingly, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. XL Capital does not undertake any duty to update publicly any forward-looking statements contained herein in light of new information or future developments.