Swiss admit bank knew Nazi gold was stolen

ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's central bank knew much of the gold it bought from Nazi Germany was stolen but turned a blind eye to its origins, according to a study by government-appointed experts.

The 190-page report confirmed earlier findings that Switzerland was the leading centre of German gold transactions abroad during the Second World War and the Swiss National Bank was the biggest client, buying $280m worth at wartime prices ($2.5bn now).

Swiss officials said, however, that they saw no need to make more amends for neutral Switzerland's wartime role.

The report broke new terrain by being the first study sanctioned by the Swiss government to state clearly that Swiss National Bank wartime managers knew they were buying stolen gold from the Reichsbank, Hitler's central bank.

"Although it was plain for all to see that Germany was acquiring gold by illegal means, the SNB authorities appear to have remained wedded to 'business as usual'," the panel of nine Swiss, US, Israeli, Polish and British historians said.