New York - A group of state and local US finance officials cleared the way yesterday for the imposition of punitive actions against Swiss banks over the issue of unreturned Holocaust-era assets.
After the World Jewish Congress dropped its objections earlier yesterday a steering committee representing 810 state and local government finance officials voted to end a moratorium on a proposed series of rolling sanctions that could affect the banks' business in the United States. The California State Treasurer, Mr Matt Fong, said meanwhile that California would not seek any new contracts or investments with US subsidiaries of Swiss banks. Mr Fong was part of a five-member steering committee negotiating with Swiss banks on restitution for the unreturned assets. Switzerland's two largest banks - Credit Suisse Group and UBS - expressed outrage about the sanctions, calling them "unwarranted, counter-productive, unconstitutional and illegal".