The Swiss Banks Holocaust Settlement

In accordance with the themes of the conference at which portions of this chapter originally were presented, the author describes some elements of our distribution process which may be germane to compensation programmes arising from more recent human rights atrocities. Some aspects of the Swiss Banks Settlement are unique because the case is governed by United States law and subject to particular United States legal requirements pertaining to class actions. Many of the issues that we confronted in devising a plan for distributing and allocating the $1.25 billion Settlement Fund, and in overseeing its implementation, may have broader relevance. The Distribution Plan was intended to allocate and distribute ?an historic, yet limited, settlement fund" in a manner that was ?fair, equitable and consistent with governing legal principles". Periodically, the Swiss banks would conduct internal ?surveys" to find ?dormant" Holocaust victim accounts. Keywords: human rights; Swiss banks Holocaust settlement; United States