763.72113/2335
The Chargé in Rumania ( Patterson ) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 29.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy and translation of a note, No. 259511, dated October 3, 1928, received from the Ministry of Finance40 asking that steps be taken to hasten the release of the assets of the Austro-Hungarian Bank seized by the Alien Property Custodian in order that the portion of these assets assigned to Rumania might be available to it as soon as possible.
It appears that the property of the Austro-Hungarian Bank in the United States was taken over by the Alien Property Custodian during the war, and that under the treaty of peace between the United States and Austria41 no disposition can be made thereof until the Austro-Hungarian Government or its successors shall have made suitable provision for the satisfaction of all claims against these governments by citizens of the United States. A commission was appointed in Washington to determine the amount of the guarantees to be given by Austria and Hungary as a condition for the release of the property seized, but this commission, it appears, has not as yet rendered a decision and the property cannot therefore be disposed of.
The Rumanian Government claims $80,000 as its share of the proceeds of the bank’s liquidation in the United States and is very [Page 489] anxious to realize on this amount. The Ministry of Finance has therefore asked the Legation to bring this matter to the attention of the Department in the hope that the decision of the special commission may be hastened and the funds released.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩
- Of Aug. 24, 1921; Foreign Relations, 1921, vol. i, p. 274.↩