AP Wire | 06/17/2004 | Swiss Banks, Holocaust Survivors Agree

After years of acrimony, Swiss banks have agreed to release records of thousands of World War II-era accounts that may belong to victims of the Nazis. A lawyer for Nazi victims who sued the banks said the agreement could allow the victims or their descendants to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in unclaimed funds. The banks' refusal to release the records had angered Holocaust survivors and infuriated a federal judge overseeing the case. If Swiss banking authorities approve the agreement, Credit Suisse and UBS AG will publish the names of 3,000 accounts opened during the Nazi era. They will open databases of Nazi-era accounts for comparison with a list of thousands hoping to recover family assets from Swiss banks. A claims resolution center will open in New York to ease the process.