European Firms Join Holocaust Claims Pact

Allianz and Axa, Europe’s biggest insurers, agreed to work with U.S. regulators and Jewish groups to pay the insurance policies of Holocaust victims. The arrangement, which also includes Swiss insurers Zurich Allied, Baloise Insurance Group and Winterthur Insurance, requires the companies to cooperate with state insurance commissioners to find the heirs of Holocaust victims, as well as survivors, and pay their policies. “I expect that it won’t be long before other insurers join the agreement, now that five have consented,” said California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush. The insurers said they would try to resolve all claims in two years, though the agreement didn’t say how much they will pay to Holocaust victims.