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Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods (July 1944)
stated that
«enemy leaders, enemy nationals and their collaborators are transferring
assets to and through neutral countries in order to conceal them and to
perpetuate their influence, power, and ability to plan future aggrandisement
and world domination». 32
The Swiss Bankers Association – SBA (Schweizerische Bankiervereinigung, SBVg)
did not react to this criticism until two months after the Bretton Woods
Conference. In September, they agreed to send two circular letters to their
members indicating in detail how Switzerland could avoid being used as a safe
haven for flight capital and the spoils of war. The SBA declined to pass on the
Allies’ warning from July directly to the banks, however. A committee of the
Bank’s Board of Directors decided that «the warning will not be passed on to
the banks and our answer to the Allies will be that the banks know nothing
about the matter.» 33 An official announcement made by diplomat Walter Stucki
on 9 February 1945 stating that an investigation would be carried out into the
extent of foreign accounts, was badly received by the Swiss banks. Stucki said
that Switzerland had become the most hated country in the whole world and
was regarded as the «last refuge of plutocracy». On 12 February 1945, the Swiss
Bankers Association stated that «the decision that has been taken severely
curtails the freedom of action of the Swiss Bankers Association and creates a
precedent to which the only reaction can be one of profound astonishment and
serious concern.» 34 Despite these protests, the Federal Council decided in its
Decree of 16 February 1945 to freeze German accounts in Switzerland.
Omnibus accounts constituted an important tool for managing foreign capital
that could serve as a vehicle for exporting flight capital for both the Nazis and
those persecuted by them. As a result of the problems mentioned above
concerning certification, there was a delay in releasing Swiss assets in the USA
compared to those of other countries. The question was finally resolved as a
secondary matter at the negotiations preceding the Washington Agreement in
May 1946. The regulation of the certification procedure was not settled until
the end of the year, however, so that Swiss assets began to be released only in
February 1947. It was a complicated and lengthy process lasting until 1952. In
order to have assets certified, customers had to provide the banks with a declaration
of ownership; after a careful check, the banks informed the US authorities
via the Swiss Clearing Office (Schweizerische Verrechnungsstelle, SVSt) that the
assets in question fulfilled the requirements for release. In its final report on the
release of Swiss assets in the USA, the Clearing Office noted that the misuse of
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