SWISS BANKS

The lawsuits were filed because in the decades after the Holocaust, Swiss financial institutions had failed to return deposits to the Nazi victims (or their relatives) who had entrusted their assets to the banks. Although the issue of these bank accounts had been raised many times during the decades after the Holocaust, in the late 1990s, the banks' behavior came under scrutiny of a type that Switzerland had not experienced before. The U.S. Congress held hearings on the subject in 1996 and again in 2000, while in Switzerland, two commissions were established to explore that nation's actions during and after the Holocaust era. The Swiss Parliament and Federal Council created the Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War ("ICE" or "Bergier Commission," after its Chair). Separately, the Swiss Bankers Association ("SBA"), the World Jewish Restitution Organization ("WJRO") and the World Jewish Congress ("WJC"), through a May 2, 1996 Memorandum of Understanding,..

Also known as: Swiss Banks Holocaust Settlement, Swiss Banks Settlement