Swiss banks have published information of more than 50,000 accounts opened before 1955 and which have remained unclaimed for over 50 years.
The accounts were examined under a new Swiss law that requires banks to publish information this year on accounts that were opened at least 60 years ago and have been dormant for 50 years.
The move is important for the banks as it allows them to search for beneficiaries of the unclaimed accounts before the money has to be handed over to the government, a spokesperson for the Swiss Bankers Association said.
Unclaimed accounts are a sensitive topic for Swiss authorities, especially after the 1990 World Jewish Congress launched a campaign for Swiss banks to search for Nazis’ accounts and to return assets of Holocaust victims.
Until a few years ago, Switzerland kept to strict secrecy laws which meant that banks fiercely guarded the identity of their clients.
This tradition has been harshly criticized for helping tax evader and encouraging Nazis to open accounts in the neutral state during World War II.
Recently, the Swiss government pressed by other nations and the world community agreed to ease the laws.
