Chase, Citibank, Chiao Tung Bank win against 1975 Vietnamese depositors
From: Sidel, Mark <mark-sidel@uiowa.edu>
Date: Oct 2, 2006 3:34 PM
Subject: [Vsg] Chase, Citibank, Chiao Tung Bank win against 1975 Vietnamese depositors
Decided on Friday, perhaps the last in a string of cases on 1975 deposits in the Saigon
branches of foreign banks:
>From appellatedecisions.blogspot.com
"Chase and Citibank Pocket the Savings of Vietnamese Customers
Huynh v. Chase Manhattan Bank, 05-55091 (9th Cir., Sept. 28, 2006)
This case goes to show that it pays to operate a bank in a politically unstable country.
Chase and Citibank were among several banks that suddenly closed their Saigon branches in
1975, when the government of South Vietnam surrendered itself to North Vietnam. What
happened to all of those savings accounts? The banks kept the money, despite repeated
demands from their erstwhile customers. Twenty-eight years later, several customers who have
since immigrated to the United States filed suit. Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, they had
a serious statute of limitations problem, and the district court dismissed the suit.
Although the Ninth Circuit agrees that the banks' conduct over the years has been
questionable at best, the Court finds no basis for tolling the statute of limitations.
Accordingly, the banks' Vietnamese customers won't see a dime of their money."
Full text at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0456105p.pdf for those
interested.