Tribunal Has Bankrupted the Swiss Bank Settlement

In November 2000 a group of Swiss banks settled a class-action lawsuit by agreeing to pay $1.25 billion to Holocaust victims, including $800 million to those who deposited funds in the banks prior to World War II and did not receive them afterward. The Zurich-based Claims Resolution Tribunal, or CRT, was appointed to administer the claims.

It has not been up to the task. Indeed, the CRT’s failure to respect its own rules has made the entire process seriously flawed. In the processing of claims, the CRT has been neither equitable nor expeditious — nor, for that matter, consistent with the protections of due process of law that its rules were designed to ensure.

The CRT’s own statistics reveal that since it began processing claims in February 2001, only $436 million — less than 55% — of the $800 million has been “distributed or allocated,” and fewer than 2,200 awards account for $352 million, more than 80% of the $436 million total. More...