Cite as: 539 U. S. 396 (2003)
Opinion of the Court
Association of Insurance Commissioners, the organization of American state insurance commissioners. The job of the ICHEIC, chaired by former Secretary of State Eagleburger, includes negotiation with European insurers to provide information about unpaid insurance policies issued to Holocaust victims and settlement of claims brought under them. It has thus set up procedures for handling demands against participating insurers, including "a reasonable review . . . of the participating companies' files" for production of unpaid policies, "an investigatory process to determine the current status" of insurance policies for which claims are filed, and a "claims and valuation process to settle and pay individual claims," employing "relaxed standards of proof." SER 1236-1237.
In the pact with the United States, Germany stipulated that "insurance claims that come within the scope of the current claims handling procedures adopted by the [ICHEIC] and are made against German insurance companies shall be processed by the companies and the German Insurance Association on the basis of such procedures and on the basis of additional claims handling procedures that may be agreed among the Foundation, ICHEIC, and the German Insurance Association." 39 Int'l Legal Materials, at 1299. And in a supplemental agreement formalized in October 2002, the German Foundation agreed to set aside 200 million deutsch marks, to be used for insurance claims approved by the ICHEIC and a portion of the ICHEIC's operating expenses, with another 100 million in reserve if the initial fund should run out. Agreement Concerning Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, in Lodging of Petitioners in Gerling Global Reinsurance Corp. v. Garamendi, No. 02-733, pp. L-70 to L-71, L-78 to L-79, cert. pending. [Reporter's Note: See post, p. 955.] The foundation also bound itself to contribute 350 million deutsch marks to a "humanitarian fund" administered by the ICHEIC, id., at L-80, and it agreed to work with the German Insurance Association and the German insurers who
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