Notawisseling tussen de Nederlandse en de Australische Regering betreffende de deblokkering van eigendommen welke onderworpen waren aan speciale maatregelen ten gevolge van de vijandelijke bezetting van Nederland

In this Agreement, unless the contrary intention appears:
„Person” means natural person.
„Institution” includes any firm, authority, government department, partnership and company, whether incorporated or unincorporated.
„Netherlands” means the Kingdom of the Netherlands including its overseas Territories.
„Australia” includes the Territories of or under the control of Australia.
„Controller” means the Controller of Enemy Property of Australia.

The Controller shall furnish the Royal Netherlands Legation at Canberra or such other representative as the Netherlands Government may designate with full particulars in regard to:
(a) All moneys which have been paid to the Australian Government in pursuance of the National Security (Enemy Property) Regulations and the Trading with the Enemy Act 1939–1947 (hereinafter referred to as the Commonwealth Statutes) on behalf of persons in the Netherlands and institutions established in the Netherlands; and
(b) All other moneys and property belonging to persons in the Netherlands and institutions established in the Netherlands which have been subject to the National Security (Enemy Property) Regulations, and which are under the control of the Controller at the date on which this Agreement comes into force.

The Controller shall also furnish the Legation, or such other representative as the Netherlands Government may designate, with particulars of all claims registered in his office:
(a) by persons and institutions in Australia against persons in the Netherlands and against institutions established in the Netherlands; and
(b) with respect to property in the Netherlands belonging to persons in Australia, Australian persons resident outside Australia and institutions established in Australia.

Moneys at present held by the Australian Government in the terms of the Commonwealth Statutes on behalf of Netherlands persons and institutions established in the Netherlands shall be paid to the Netherlands Government, or to such Bank as may be nominated by the Netherlands Government, with a view to the satisfaction of the claims of the Netherlands persons or institutions to whom such moneys are due.

The Controller shall, whenever he receives a request to that effect from the Netherlands Government, and subject to the provisions of Article 6 hereof, release from his control all other Netherlands moneys and property which have been subject to the National Security (Enemy Property) Regulations.
For the purpose of this Article a request made or a permit issued by the Netherlands Bank shall be deemed to constitute a request by the Netherlands Government.

The Netherlands Government shall make arrangements for the verification of all particulars supplied to it under Article 2 by the Controller and shall in due course inform the Controller of any moneys or property included therein which are not due to or owned by Netherlands persons or institutions. The Netherlands Government undertakes to return to the Controller any moneys which are found not to be due to or owned by Netherlands persons or institutions and which have been paid to the Netherlands Government in pursuance of Article 4 of this Agreement.

The Netherlands Government hereby agrees to indemnify and keep indemnified the Government of Australia, the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia and the Controller from all actions, suits, proceedings, claims or demands which may arise from the payment or transfer of the moneys or property as aforesaid to the Netherlands Government, or such Bank as may be nominated by the Netherlands Government, or other persons or institutions in accordance with this Agreement.

The Controller shall not be held responsible for moneys which were not reported to him in pursuance of the National Security (Enemy Property) Regulations or which, for any reason, were not paid to him. Where the Australian Government is satisfied that such moneys are owing to Netherlands persons or to institutions established in the Netherlands the Controller, however, will assist to the best of his ability in the collection thereof.

The Netherlands Government wil examine the statements of claim received from the Controller in accordance with Article 3 of this Agreement and will inform the Controller of the validity of the claims. It will also provide the Controller with full particulars regarding the position of all claims with respect to property in the Netherlands and it will indicate whether such property is available for return to the owners in Australia and will report on the condition of such property. The Netherlands Government will assist as far as possible in collecting assets and in restoring to owners their rights in property.

The Netherlands Government herewith undertakes that all assets in the Netherlands belonging to Australian persons and institutions at the coming into force of this Agreement shall, as far as they are available and subject to the provisions of Article 11 of this Agreement, be placed at the free disposal of the owners.

This Agreement does not purport to exempt any money or property from taxation, or foreign exchange control legislation in force in Australia or the Netherlands.

The Governments of Australia and of the Netherlands may subsequently agree that certain property shall be excluded from the provisions of this Agreement.

This Agreement does not apply to any settlements to be effected between the contracting Governments or in which one or more Government Departments are concerned, except by mutual consent.

Moneys which have been or which may be received under the Commonwealth Statutes on account of Netherlands persons who have since died shall not be paid over to the Netherlands Government in the terms of this Agreement until a legal personal representative has been appointed.

Fees will not be taken in respect of money and property passing under this Agreement.
Finally, the Australian Government desires to record its understanding of the following matters:
(i) the Netherlands Government authorises the Netherlands Bank to receive on its behalf the moneys referred to in Article 4 of the Agreement and the Netherlands Bank will open an account for the purpose with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia at Sydney;
(ii) in connection with Article 9 of the Agreement, the Australian Government has taken note of the fact that during the German occupation of the Netherlands (in Europe) money and property belonging to United Nations nationals were, in many cases, transferred by debtors and Trustees in the Netherlands by order of the occupation authorities. The Australian Government therefore understands that the Netherlands Government cannot be held responsible for the measures taken by the German occupation authorities, or for the administration of the Deutsche Revisions und Treuhand Gesellschaft, and in the event of any Australian money or property having been seized or liquidated the claims of the Australian owners will be honoured only in proportion to the total funds available for the satisfaction of all claims by United Nations nationals.
The Australian Government further notes that similar conditions may apply to moneys or property belonging to United Nations nationals in the Netherlands Overseas Territory during the Japanese occupation, and agrees that the Netherlands Government cannot accept responsibility for measures taken by the Japanese occupation authorities or for the administration of the Japanese Nampo-bank.
If the foregoing provisions are acceptable to the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, I have the honour to propose that this Note and your confirmatory reply thereto shall be deemed to constitute and evidence the agreement between our two Governments in this matter.