Related News
Swiss seek claimants for 2,600 idle bank accounts
Swiss banks yesterday released the names of more than 2,600 holders of accounts that have lain dormant for at least 60 years, giving them or their heirs one last chance to claim their wealth before it reverts to the state.
The banking industry said around 44 million Swiss francs (US$44.5 million) were lying fallow in bank accounts that had gone untouched since at least 1955. Around 80 safety deposit boxes whose contents were unclear were also gathering dust.
People can search for dormant accounts on the website https://www.dormantaccounts.ch that went live yesterday under new legislation that took effect in January.
鈥淏y publishing this information, the banks are making a last attempt to re-establish contact with the customer,鈥 said Claude-Alain Margelisch, chief executive of the Swiss Bankers Association.
鈥淔or the banks, on the other hand, these new regulations create legal certainty for the treatment of dormant assets.鈥
More names will be added to the list every year as the 60-year period rolls on. The deadline for submitting requests is one year from the date of publication.
Unclaimed accounts are a sensitive topic in Switzerland after the World Jewish Congress led a campaign in the 1990s for Swiss banks to return assets of Holocaust victims.
Under pressure from Jewish organizations and the United States government, big Swiss banks in 1998 agreed to pay US$1.25 billion to settle allegations they had drained such dormant accounts dry and stonewalled heirs seeking relatives鈥 money.
Switzerland鈥檚 tradition of banking secrecy and established wealth management industry have long attracted riches of people who want to avoid prying eyes.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔$粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.