§4309. Claims to property transferred to custodian; notice of claim; filing; return of property; suits to recover; sale of claimed property in time of war or during national emergency — Inbound Citations
50 U.S.C. § 4309
Cited by 14 provisions in release 119-102.
Citations to 50 U.S.C. § 4309 as a whole
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(a) Every enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, and every enemy or ally of enemy, doing business within the United States through an agency or branch office, or otherwise, may within thirty days after October 6, 1917, apply to the President for a license to continue to do business; and, within thirty days after such application, the President may enter an order either granting or refusing to grant such license. The license, if granted, may be temporary or otherwise, and for such period of time, and may contain such provisions and conditions regulating the business, agencies, managers and trustees and the control and disposition of the funds of the company, or of such enemy or ally of enemy, as the President shall deem necessary for the safety of the United States; and any license granted hereunder may be revoked or regranted or renewed in such manner and at such times as the President shall determine: Provided, however, That reasonable notice of his intent to refuse to grant a license or to revoke a license granted to any reinsurance company shall be given by him to all insurance companies incorporated within the United States and known to the President to be doing business with such reinsurance company: Provided further, That no insurance company, organized within the United States, shall be obligated to continue any existing contract, entered into prior to the beginning of the war, with any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, but any such company may abrogate and cancel any such contract by serving thirty days’ notice in writing upon the President of its election to abrogate such contract.For a period of thirty days after October 6, 1917, and further pending the entry of such order by the President, after application made by any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, within such thirty days as above provided, the provisions of the President’s proclamation of April sixth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, relative to agencies in the United States of certain insurance companies, as modified by the provisions of the President’s proclamation of July thirteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, relative to marine and war-risk insurance, shall remain in full force and effect so far as it applies to such German insurance companies, and the conditions of said proclamation of April sixth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, as modified by said proclamation of July thirteenth, nineteen hundred and seventeen, shall also during said period of thirty days after October 6, 1917, and pending the order of the President as herein provided, apply to any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding. It shall be unlawful for any enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, to whom license is granted, to transmit out of the United States any funds belonging to or held for the benefit of such company or to use any such funds as the basis for the establishment directly or indirectly of any credit within or outside of the United States to, or for the benefit of, or on behalf of, or on account of, an enemy or ally of enemy.For a period of thirty days after October 6, 1917, and further pending the entry of such order by the President, after application made within such thirty days by any enemy or ally of enemy, other than an insurance or reinsurance company as above provided, it shall be lawful for such enemy or ally of enemy to continue to do business in this country and for any person to trade with, to, from, for, on account of, on behalf of or for the benefit of such enemy or ally of enemy, anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding: Provided, however, That the provisions of sections 4303 and 4315 of this title shall apply to any act or attempted act of transmission or transfer of money or other property out of the United States and to the use or attempted use of such money or property as the basis for the establishment of any credit within or outside of the United States to, or for the benefit of, or on behalf of, or on account of, an enemy or ally of enemy.If no license is applied for within thirty days after October 6, 1917, or if a license shall be refused to any enemy or ally of enemy, whether insurance or reinsurance company, or other person, making application, or if any license granted shall be revoked by the President, the provisions of sections 4303 and 4315 of this title shall forthwith apply to all trade or to any attempt to trade with, to, from, for, buy, on account of, or on behalf of, or for the benefit of such company or other person: Provided, however, That after such refusal or revocation, anything in this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, it shall be lawful for a policyholder or for an insurance company, not an enemy or ally of enemy, holding insurance or having effected reinsurance in or with such enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company, to receive payment of, and for such enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company to pay any premium, return premium, claim, money, security, or other property due or which may become due on or in respect to such insurance or reinsurance in force at the date of such refusal or revocation of license; and nothing in this chapter shall vitiate or nullify then existing policies or contracts of insurance or reinsurance, or the conditions thereof; and any such policyholder or insurance company, not an enemy or ally of enemy, having any claim to or upon money or other property of the enemy or ally of enemy insurance or reinsurance company in the custody or control of the alien property custodian, hereinafter provided for, or of the Treasurer of the United States, may make application for the payment thereof and may institute suit as provided in section 4309 of this title.
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All moneys (including checks and drafts payable on demand) paid to or received by the alien property custodian pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited forthwith in the Treasury of the United States, and may be invested and reinvested by the Secretary of the Treasury in United States bonds or United States certificates of indebtedness, under such rules and regulations as the President shall prescribe for such deposit, investment, and sale of securities; and as soon after the end of the war as the President shall deem practicable, such securities shall be sold and the proceeds deposited in the Treasury.
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(2) When in the case of any trust written consent under subsection (m) of section 4309 of this title has been filed, an amount equal to the portion of such trust the return of which is temporarily postponed under such subsection shall be credited against the investment made under paragraph (1) of this subsection. If the total amount so credited is in excess of the amount invested under paragraph (1) of this subsection, the excess shall be invested by the Alien Property Custodian in accordance with the provisions of this subsection, without regard to the $40,000,000 limitation in paragraph (1). If the amount invested under paragraph (1) of this subsection is in excess of the total amount so credited, such excess shall, from time to time on request of the Alien Property Custodian, be paid to him out of the funds in the German special deposit account created by section 4 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, and such payments shall have priority over any payments therefrom other than the payments under paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of such section (relating to expenses of administration).
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(d) The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed (after the payment of debts under section 4309 of this title) to transfer to the Secretary of the Treasury, for deposit in such special deposit account, all money and the proceeds of all property, including all income, dividends, interest, annuities, and earnings accumulated in respect thereof, owned by the German Government or any member of the former ruling family. All money and other property shall be held to be owned by the German Government (1) if no claim thereto has been filed with the Alien Property Custodian prior to the expiration of three years from March 10, 1928, or (2) if any claim has been filed before the expiration of such period (whether before or after March 10, 1928), then if the ownership thereof under any such claim is not established by a decision of the Alien Property Custodian or by suit in court instituted, under section 4309 of this title, within one year after the decision of the Alien Property Custodian, or after March 10, 1928, whichever date is later. The amounts so transferred under this subsection shall be credited upon the final payment due the United States from the German Government on account of the awards of the Mixed Claims Commission.
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(f) Any amount of principal or interest paid to the Alien Property Custodian in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of section 4 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928 shall be allocated pro rata among the persons filing written consents under subsection (m) of section 4309 of this title, and the amounts so allocated shall be paid to such persons. If any person to whom any amount is payable under this subsection has died (or if, in the case of a partnership, association, or other unincorporated body of individuals, or a corporation, its existence has terminated), payment shall be made to the persons determined by the Alien Property Custodian to be entitled thereto.
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(g) The Alien Property Custodian is authorized and directed (after the payment of debts under section 4309 of this title) to transfer to the Secretary of the Treasury, for deposit in the special deposit account (Austrian or Hungarian, as the case may be), created by section 7 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, all money and the proceeds of all property, including all income, dividends, interest, annuities, and earnings accumulated in respect thereof, owned by the Austrian Government or any corporation all the stock of which was owned by or on behalf of the Austrian Government (including the property of the Imperial Royal Tobacco Monopoly, also known under the name of K. K. Oesterreichische Tabak Regie), or owned by the Hungarian Government or by any corporation all the stock of which was owned by or on behalf of the Hungarian Government.
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(c) In the case of persons entitled, under paragraph (12), (13), (14), or (16) of subsection (b) of section 4309 of this title, to such return, and in the case of persons who would be entitled to such return thereunder if all such money or property had not been returned under paragraph (9) or (10) of such subsection, and in the case of persons entitled to such return under subsection (n) of section 4309 of this title, an amount equal to the aggregate amount allocated to their trusts shall be credited against the sum of $25,000,000 invested in participating certificates under paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of section 4322 of this title. If the aggregate amount so allocated is in excess of $25,000,000, an amount equal to the excess shall be invested in the same manner. Upon the repayment of any of the amounts so invested, under the provisions of section 4 of the Settlement of War Claims Act of 1928, the amount so repaid shall be distributed pro rata among such persons, notwithstanding any receipts or releases given by them.
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(b) The Alien Property Custodian shall not make any such waiver or compromise except with the approval of the Attorney General; nor (if any part of such money or property would be returnable only upon the filing of the written consent required by subsection (m) of section 4309 of this title) unless, after compliance with the terms and conditions of such waiver or compromise, the Alien Property Custodian or the Treasurer of the United States will hold (in respect of such enemy or ally of enemy) for investment as provided in section 4322 of this title, an amount equal to 20 per centum of the sum of (1) the value of the money or other property held by the Alien Property Custodian or the Treasurer of the United States at the time of such waiver or compromise, plus (2) the value of the money or other property to which the Alien Property Custodian would be entitled under such demand or requirement if the waiver or compromise had not been made.
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Any money or other property returnable under subsection (b) or (n) of section 4309 of this title shall, at any time prior to such return, be subject to attachment in accordance with the provisions of the code of law for the District of Columbia, as amended, relating to attachments in suits at law and to attachments for the enforcement of judgments at law and decrees in equity, but any writ of attachment or garnishment issuing in any such suit, or for the enforcement of any judgment or decree, shall be served only upon the Alien Property Custodian, who shall for the purposes of this section be considered as holding credits in favor of the person entitled to such return to the extent of the value of the money or other property so returnable. Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the taking of actual possession, by any officer of any court, of any money or other property held by the Alien Property Custodian or by the Treasurer of the United States.
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No return may be made pursuant to section 4309 or 4329 of this title unless notice of claim has been filed: (a) in the case of any property or interest acquired by the United States prior to December 18, 1941, by August 9, 1948; or (b) in the case of any property or interest acquired by the United States on or after December 18, 1941, not later than one year from February 9, 1954, or two years from the vesting of the property or interest in respect of which the claim is made, whichever is later. No suit pursuant to section 4309 of this title may be instituted after April 30, 1949, or after the expiration of two years from the date of the seizure by or vesting in the Alien Property Custodian, as the case may be, of the property or interest in respect of which relief is sought, whichever is later, but in computing such two years there shall be excluded any period during which there was pending a suit or claim for return pursuant to section 4309 or 4329(a) of this title.
Citations to §4309(a)
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(g) Without limitation by or upon any other existing provision of law with respect to the payment of expenses by the Alien Property Custodian, the Custodian may retain or recover from any property or interest or proceeds returned pursuant to this section or section 4309(a) of this title an amount not exceeding that expended or incurred by him for the conservation, preservation, or maintenance of such property or interest or proceeds, or other property or interest or proceeds returned to the same person.
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The officer or agency empowered to entertain claims under sections 4309(a), 4329, and 4331 of this title shall have power to hold such hearings as may be deemed necessary; to prescribe rules and regulations governing the form and contents of claims, the proof thereof, and all other matters related to proceedings on such claims; and in connection with such proceedings to issue subpenas, administer oaths, and examine witnesses. Such powers, and any other powers conferred upon such officer or agency by sections 4309(a), 4329, and 4331 of this title may be exercised through subordinate officers designated by such officer or agency.
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(b) The Alien Property Custodian shall, notwithstanding the filing of any claim or the institution of any suit under this chapter, pay any tax incident to any such property or interest, or the earnings, increment, or proceeds thereof, at the earliest time appearing to him to be not contrary to the interest of the United States. The former owner shall not be liable for any such tax accruing while such property, interest, earnings, increment, or proceeds are held by the Alien Property Custodian, unless they are returned pursuant to this chapter without payment of such tax by the Alien Property Custodian. Every such tax shall be paid by the Alien Property Custodian to the same extent, as nearly as may be deemed practicable, as though the property or interest had not been vested in or transferred to the Alien Property Custodian, and shall be paid only out of the property or interest, or earnings, increment, or proceeds thereof, to which they are incident or out of other property or interests acquired from the same former owner, or earnings, increment, or proceeds thereof. No tax liability may be enforced from any property or interest or the earnings, increment, or proceeds thereof while held by the Alien Property Custodian except with his consent. Where any property or interest is transferred, otherwise than pursuant to section 4309(a) or 4329 of this title, the Alien Property Custodian may transfer the property or interest free and clear of any tax, except to the extent of any lien for a tax existing and perfected at the date of vesting, and the proceeds of such transfer shall, for tax purposes, replace the property or interest in the hands of the Alien Property Custodian.
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(a) The Attorney General is authorized and directed to transfer to the Library of Congress the title to all prints of motion pictures now in the custody of the Library, which prints were vested in or transferred to the Alien Property Custodian or the Attorney General pursuant to this chapter after December 17, 1941, except prints of motion pictures which are the subject of suits or claims under section 4309(a) or section 4329 of this title.