Exhibit 10.56

          AMENDMENT NO. 1, dated as of November 23, 2009, to Pledge Agreement
dated as of 11 November, 2009 (the “Pledge Agreement”) between XL Insurance
(Bermuda) Ltd, a company organized and existing under the laws of Bermuda (with
company registration number 12809) whose address of its registered or principal
office is at XL House, One Bermudiana Road, Hamilton HM08, Bermuda (the
“Applicant”), XL Re Ltd, company organized and existing under the laws of
Bermuda (with company registration number 21291) whose address of its registered
or principal office is at XL House, One Bermudiana Road, Hamilton HM08, Bermuda
(the “Second Pledgor”) (the Applicant and the Second Pledgor, together referred
to as the “Original Pledgors”, and, together with any Additional Pledgor (as
defined in the Pledge Agreement), the “Pledgors”) and Citibank Europe PLC (the
“Pledgee”)

          WHEREAS, the Pledgors and the Pledgee are parties to the Pledge
Agreement, and wish to enter into this Amendment No. 1 to clarify certain
provisions of the Pledge Agreement;

          NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises, and for other good
and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby
acknowledged, the Pledgors and the Pledgee hereby agree as follows:

 

 

 

1.

DEFINED TERMS. Except as expressly provided in this Amendment, capitalized terms
defined in the Pledge Agreement and used in this Amendment shall have their
respective defined meanings when used herein.

 

 

2.

AMENDMENTS. Effective upon the signature by the Pledgors and the Pledgee of this
Amendment, the Pledge Agreement is hereby amended as follows:

 

 

 

(a)

Schedule 7 of the Pledge Agreement is deleted in its entirety and replaced with
Schedule 7 hereto.

 

 

 

 

(b)

References in the Pledge Agreement to “this Agreement” and the words “hereof”,
“hereto”, “herein” and the like shall refer to the Pledge Agreement as amended
by this Amendment, except that references to “the date of this Agreement” and
“the date hereof shall continue to refer to 11 November, 2009.

 

 

 

3.

MISCELLANOUS

 

 

 

(a)

Except as expressly amended by this Amendment, the Pledge Agreement shall remain
unmodified and in full force and effect.

 

 

 

 

(b)

This Amendment and the Pledge Agreement as amended hereby and the rights and
obligations of the parties under this Amendment and the Pledge Agreement as
amended hereby shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of
the State of New York without regard to conflicts of laws principles thereof
(other than Section 5-1401 of the General Obligations Law of the State of New
York, which is expressly made applicable hereto and thereto).

 

 

 

 

(c)

This Amendment may be executed in counterparts (and by different parties hereto
on different counterparts), each of which shall constitute an original but all
of which, when taken together, shall constitute a single contract, and shall
become effective when signed by both parties. Delivery of an executed signature
page to this Agreement by facsimile or electronic mail transmission shall be as
effective as delivery of a manually signed counterpart of this Amendment.

[remainder of page intentionally left blank]

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          IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have duly executed this
Amendment as of the day and year first above written.

 

 

XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd

BY:

(-s- C. Stanley Lee) [c60508006.jpg]

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Name: C. Stanley Lee

Title: SVP, Chief Financial Officer

 

 

XL Re Ltd

BY:

(-s- Gregory S. Hendrick) [c60508007.jpg]

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Name:

     Gregory S. Hendrick

Title:

     President &
Chief Underwriting Officer

 

 

Citibank Europe Plc

BY:

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name:

 

Title:

 

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          IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have duly executed this
Amendment as of the day and year first above written.

 

 

XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd

 

 

BY:

(-s- C. Stanley Lee) [c60508008.jpg]

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Name: C. Stanley Lee

Title: SVP, Chief Financial Officer

 

 

XL Re Ltd

BY:

(-s- Gregory S. Hendrick) [c60508009.jpg]

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Name:

     Gregory S. Hendrick

Title:

     President & Chief Underwriting Officer

 

 

 

 

Citibank Europe Plc

BY:

(-s- Peadar MacCanna) [c60508010.jpg]

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Name:

     Peadar MacCanna

Title:

     Director

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Schedule 7
Account details

 

 

 

 

 

Name of Pledgor

 

Account Name & Number

 

IBAN Number

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XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd

 

 

 

N/A

 

 

 

 

 

XL Re Ltd

 

 

 

N/A

 

 

 

 

 

XL Re Ltd

 

 

 

N/A

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