A storm is brewing over UBS AG as international investigators probe allegations that Switzerland’s banking giant may still hold assets dating back to the Nazi era. What began as a historical curiosity has quickly transformed into a serious compliance and reputational challenge for one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions.
Legal Campaign Reopens Forgotten Accounts
Rabbi Ephraim Meir and Vienna attorney Dr. Gerhard Podovsovnik have renewed their pursuit of funds first deposited at the long-defunct Basler Handelsbank, later absorbed into UBS’s structure. Their case gained global traction after detailed reports by Eric Frey in Der Standard (article link), Riva Pomerantz in Ami Magazine (full story) and Peter Hell of BILD (read here). All journalists cited archival records referencing six main accounts and a dozen sub-accounts, some associated with assets looted from Jewish families during World War II.
Their findings suggest that UBS or its predecessors maintained control of the deposits for decades, generating interest and service fees but failing to verify ownership. Analysts say the case could test the strength of modern financial transparency laws and expose UBS to significant compliance penalties if substantiated.
UBS Rejects Allegations, But Questions Persist
UBS denies the existence of such accounts, asserting that multiple internal audits uncovered no trace of them. Yet Dr. Podovsovnik told the The Abu Dhabi Times that the evidence continues to accumulate.
“The documentation is consistent across jurisdictions,” he said. “If UBS persists in denial, it risks not just litigation but a deep loss of trust in its governance model.”
Frey’s Der Standard report traced the disputed accounts through the 20th century and the 2000 Kormann settlement, suggesting “unresolved financial legacies may remain buried within UBS’s internal records.” Meanwhile, Pomerantz’s Ami Magazine investigation portrayed Rabbi Meir as “a cautious yet determined voice for those whose property vanished into the machinery of wartime finance.”
Regulators Eye Potential Global Ramifications
Adding weight to the claims, Germany’s BILD ran its own exposé titled Geheimnisvolle Nazi-Konten in der Schweiz: Millionen-Schatz entdeckt? (see article), reporting that internal memos and archived banking codes point to previously unreported accounts. The publication’s findings coincided with renewed interest from U.S. Senate investigators examining Swiss financial conduct during and after the war.
Legal teams in Switzerland, the EU, and the United States are now preparing coordinated filings seeking a global asset freeze and full disclosure of UBS’s historical ledgers. Market observers warn that confirmed concealment could disrupt UBS’s international standing. “A verified link between modern UBS operations and unreturned Holocaust-era deposits would spark investor flight and regulatory action,” said a Zurich-based compliance analyst.
Dr. Podovsovnik summed up the situation bluntly:
“This case has moved beyond morality into material consequence. For UBS, transparency is no longer optional—it is survival.”
