Chase Reports Additional Results From WWII Research.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2000

The Chase Manhattan Corporation (NYSE: CMB) announced today further results of its research relating to historical activities of its predecessor banks during the World War II era. Chase reported that, from August 1936 through June 1941, The Chase National Bank participated in a German government program that enabled Germany to exchange German marks for U.S. dollars. The program was the subject of considerable U.S. government scrutiny and media coverage during and after World War II but was not known to current management prior to the beginning of Chase's research project.

In the mid-1930s, other nations were not accepting German currency in exchange for goods and services. In response to this, Germany created so-called "blocked" German marks, which could only be used in Germany but were worthless in international trade. The program, known as the "Rueckwanderer Program" (a "rueckwanderer" being someone who has left, but who may return), allowed German-Americans potentially interested in returning to Germany to exchange U.S. dollars for German marks at favorable rates. The German government benefited from the program because it obtained U.S. dollars, which it could use to purchase goods outside Germany. Historical records suggest that some of the "blocked" German marks used in the program may have come from the forced sale of assets by Jewish refugees leaving Germany.

Chase National Bank was one of several banks that provided U.S. banking services for the program; the banks also established a network of agents to solicit customers for the program. Historical records show that the German government raised approximately $25 million to $35 million via the program and that some of the promotional activities of the agents were anti-Semitic. Chase National Bank's commissions from its participation in the program were approximately $280,000. The program ended in June 1941, when the United States froze all German assets in the U.S.

Following an investigation by the FBI in the 1940s into the program, a grand jury was convened in New York to consider whether the program violated then-existing neutrality laws. No indictment was ever issued. In addition, in 1944 the United States Senate held hearings at which the Rueckwanderer Program and Chase National Bank's involvement in it were discussed in detail. No action was ever taken by the US Government against Chase National.

"We are sad to learn and deeply troubled about the involvement of one of our predecessor banks in a program that benefited Germany during that period," said William B. Harrison, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chase Manhattan. "We have a responsibility to make this information public and wish to express our sincere apologies to the Jewish community and to the American public."

Chase's findings came out of its investigation into the activities of its predecessor banks during World War II. The investigation, which began in 1998, has involved the review of thousands of publicly available documents located in the United States and Europe. The portion of Chase's investigation relating to the Rueckwanderer Program was completed in the last few days.

Chase also stated that the documents relating to the Rueckwanderer Program will be made available to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and to the United States Holocaust Museum where the public may access them.