Key Swiss Banks OK Holocaust Settlement
The two biggest banks in Switzerland said Friday that they had officially accepted an amended version of a $1.25-billion settlement with victims of the Holocaust era.
But Credit Suisse Group and UBS AG criticized new conditions for other Swiss companies and government bodies that they would have to follow to enjoy protection from future litigation.
The banks said in a joint statement that they had notified the responsible U.S. court in New York of their acceptance of the amendments relating to looted art, the further search for bank accounts, financing legal costs and the inclusion of insurance companies.
But the banks said in reaction to a 55-page fairness ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman that they had not destroyed any documents to avoid honoring obligations.
They also rejected suggestions that the total value of so-called Holocaust accounts could be bigger than $1.25 billion.
“We want this criticism to be included in the protocol. But we are not going to do anything with it, we accept the settlement and its content,” a spokesman for Credit Suisse said.
Korman said in a July 26 ruling that smaller Swiss banks had to give more information on Holocaust-related bank accounts, while the government and companies had to provide information about World War II refugees and forced laborers by an Aug. 25 deadline.
The 1998 agreement aimed to settle charges that banks prevented Holocaust survivors from withdrawing money deposited before World War II.
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