Chase Reports On Status of Inquiries Regarding WW II Actions of Its Predecessor's Paris Branch Office.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1999--

The Chase Manhattan Corporation (NYSE:CMB) updated today the status of inquiries regarding the actions of a predecessor's Paris branch office during the Nazi occupation of France.

Chase launched its investigation in 1998 after receiving inquiries which raised questions about the propriety of actions taken by British and American banks and bankers in Europe from the early 1930's until the end of World War II. A subsequent BBC broadcast in October 1998 questioned whether during the Nazi occupation of France the Paris office of a subsidiary of one of Chase's predecessor banks, The Chase Bank, froze assets of Jewish customers before formal orders were issued by the Nazis.

Chase has reported the following facts to the Matteoli Commission, which was created by the French government to investigate and report on the freezing and looting of Jewish assets in France during the Nazi occupation:

- A total of three deposit accounts in the Paris office belonging

to Jewish customers were looted by the Nazis; the total monetary

value of the three accounts was approximately 77,000 French

francs, equivalent in 1942 to about $1,800. To date, Chase's

research from public archives has determined that at least one

customer received restitution at the end of the war from the

French government.

- A total of 11 safe deposit boxes were looted by the Nazis. Of the

11 safe deposit boxes, Chase was able to determine that at least

three customers received restitution from the French government

after the war. Although Chase does not have complete information

on the owners of seven of the remaining eight boxes, it has

settled with one heir and is continuing to research the identity

and whereabouts of the other customers or their heirs.

Chase also submitted documents to the Matteoli Commission that indicated that actions taken by the Paris office were done under orders of the Nazi and Vichy authorities.

Despite Chase's public commitment to reimburse voluntarily all customers or heirs whose property was seized by the Nazis, two class action lawsuits have been filed against Chase. None of the plaintiffs in the suits had accounts at Chase, or any connection whatsoever, either directly or through an estate. Chase is in talks to attempt to resolve the lawsuits.

Chase's position has remained the same since it first became aware of this information, and it has spent well over 10,000 people hours in its investigation. In any situations where money was not returned by the French government after the war, Chase intends to pay customers or their heirs with interest.

"Chase shares the world's outrage concerning the treatment of the Jewish people during those horrific times," said Chase Chairman Walter V. Shipley. "From the beginning, we have treated this as a moral issue - not a legal issue. Chase remains committed to finding the remaining customers or their heirs and to working with Jewish organizations to bring this matter to a moral and just conclusion," Shipley pledged.