Wells Fargo plans Holocaust payout after
refusing
SAN FRANCISCO, March 11 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo and Co. (nyse: WFC - news - people) said on Tuesday it would pay $267,000 to Holocaust survivors after earlier refusing to take part in a settlement with the Belgian Jewish community.
Wells Fargo, the No. 4 U.S. banking company, was the only holdout among 22 banks that agreed last year to pay about $59 million to settle claims brought by Holocaust survivors over money seized from Belgian Jews during World War Two.
Wells Fargo, which apologized for its initial refusal, had argued it did not owe the money because it did not have any relationship during the war with the Belgian bank in question. It inherited the liability through a 1996 takeover.
"We sincerely apologize to the Jewish community and deeply regret any misunderstanding that our original decision may have caused," said Dick Kovacevich, chairman and chief executive of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo.
"Although we had no relationship during the Second World War with the Belgian bank in question, no records relating to the basis for this claim and no knowledge of the circumstances around the claim, we still want to make this contribution."
The overall settlement was reached last year in a country that has been slower than its neighbors in paying the Jewish community for its lost assets. Belgium passed a law allowing assets to be returned to families of Jewish victims only in 2001.
When the Nazi occupation of Belgium began, there were about 70,000 Jews in the country. But during the war about half of the Jewish population was deported and their property was plundered.
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service
