U.S. District Court Announces Holocaust-Era Swiss Bank Funds Can B Claimed

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On January 13, 2005, the Swiss Bank
Holocaust settlement fund will publish an additional list of 2,700 names of potential Swiss bank account owners, and the names of 400 Power of Attorney Holders of Swiss bank accounts. The newly-published accounts are "probably or possibly" owned by Victims of Nazi Persecution, and were open in a Swiss bank between 1933-1945. The publication is being made in connection with the administration of the $1.25 billion settlement between Holocaust survivors and
Swiss banks reached in January, 1999, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York before Chief Judge Edward R. Korman.
Publication of the newly available information is the result of extensive negotiations with the Swiss banks in an effort to provide claimants with all available information. 2,400 of the newly- published names were identified by an audit conducted by Paul Volcker in December, 1999, as "probably or possibly" owned by Holocaust victims. Swiss banking authorities declined to permit their publication in February 2001. After extensive negotiations, the Swiss authorities have now authorized the publication of the 2,400 names.
In addition, the newly-published names include accounts identified by Switzerland in 1962 as potentially owned by Holocaust victims that have been published earlier, but that have not yet been claimed. The newly published names also include accounts owned by Polish and Hungarian depositors that were published locally in Poland and Hungary, but that have not been the subject of worldwide publication. Certain other names were obtained by CRT investigators from publicly available archival sources. Finally, 400 Power of Attorney Holders are separately listed in an effort to provide additional information about the newly-published accounts.
Publication of the information concerning the newly-published accounts on January 13, 2005 will begin a new six-month claims period, ending on July 13, 2005, during which owners of the newly published accounts or their heirs may file a claim to a newly-published bank account with the Claims Resolution Tribunal (CRT), established by the District Court to administer the bank account claims process. A complete list of the 3,100 names and all necessary application forms are available at the websites of the CRT, http://www.crt-ii.org, and the Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation (Swiss bank settlement), http://www.swissbankclaims.com Potential claimants may also call designated help centers throughout the world for information concerning the claims process.