New York - Swiss banks and Jewish groups reached an estimated $1.25 billion agreement in principle yesterday on compensation for unreturned Holocaust-era assets after months of often bitter negotiations. The agreement will mean an end to several lawsuits taken against the banks - Credit Suisse and UBS - by tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors and an end to threatened sanctions by about 20 US states and 30 municipalities.
The claimants accused the banks of stonewalling Holocaust victims who tried to get back money deposited in Switzerland for safekeeping during the Nazi era. The banks have acknowledged that they made errors handling the funds, but deny they deliberately kept them.