AFX EUROPE: SNB, OTHER BANKS REPORTEDLY TO FACE U.S. CIVIL ACTIONS OVER LOOTED ASSETS
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) and other banks may face civil actions over looted assets they allegedly obtained from Croatia's Ustascha regime during World War II, Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger reported.
A U.S. court ruled that the SNB as well as other banks in Switzerland, Austria, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany can be included in the civil action filed against the Vatikanbank and the Order of St Francis, the newspaper said.
at/cmr
Business Day, South Africa
SAN FRANCISCO A US judge has ruled that the Swiss National Bank can be added to a lawsuit charging the Vatican Bank and the Franciscan Order with laundering stolen Second World War gold, some of which may have been used to help Nazis escape.
The lawsuit accuses the banks of receiving gold and other assets looted from victims of Croatia's brutal Ustasha regime from 1941-1945. As many as 700000 people, most of them Serbs, were killed at death camps which the Nazi-allied government ran.
The central bank is party to the $1,25bn global agreement reached two years ago between Swiss banks and Jewish organisations aimed at settling the issue of looted Second World War assets. That deal was meant to shield banks from future lawsuits.
But Judge Maxine Chesney ruled last month that the Swiss bank could be named in the current lawsuit because the Serb victims of the Ustasha regime were not mentioned in the global settlement.
Sep 18 2000 12:00:00:000AM Business Day 1st Edition
ABIX - AUSTRALASIAN BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE: THE CANBERRA TIMES: SWISS BANK ACCUSED OVER NAZI GOLD LAUNDERING
A United States class action accused the Swiss National Bank of stealing gold and assets from World War II victims on 17 September 2000. The lawsuit has already accused the Vatican Bank and the Franciscan Order of laundering stolen gold, claiming some of it may have been used to help leading Nazis escape prosecution at the end of the war. The banks have been accused of receiving hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold and assets from as many as 700,000 people killed at Nazi death camps during Croatia's brutal Ustasha regime from 1941 to 1945.
World Reporter All Material Subject to Copyright
SUNDAY STAR TIMES: NEWS BRIEFS
Swiss laundering: A San Francisco judge has ruled the Swiss National Bank can be added to a suit charging the Vatican Bank and the Franciscan Order with laundering World War II gold.