Zurich court backs Julius Baer in East German assets row

[April 24, 2018]    ZURICH (Reuters) - A Swiss appeals court has ruled in favor of private bank Julius Baer <BAER.S> in a suit by a German agency hunting East German assets that went missing after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the bank said on Tuesday.

The sign for Swiss bank Julius Baer is seen at a branch office in Luzern, Switzerland, November 23, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

The ruling is not yet binding, it added in a statement.

The suit relates to alleged withdrawals between 1989 and 1992 from an account established by former German Democratic Republic officials at Bank Cantrade, which Julius Baer bought from UBS in 2005. The agency was seeking 97 million Swiss francs ($99.2 million) plus accrued interest since 1994.

($1 = 0.9779 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Michael Shields, editing by John Revill)

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