Collapse to view only § 1631o. Eligibility for return of interest in property
- § 1631. Definitions
- § 1631a. Property owned by Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania or any national thereof
- § 1631b. Cancellation and issuance of shares of stock or other beneficial interest in corporation
- § 1631c. Filing of order of conveyance
- § 1631d. Acquittance and discharge of obligation
- § 1631e. Rules by district courts; appeals
- § 1631f. Claims to vested property
- § 1631g. Payment of debts
- § 1631h. Hearings on claims; rules and regulations; delegation of powers
- § 1631i. Limitations
- § 1631j. Fees of agents, attorneys, or representatives
- § 1631k. Taxes
- § 1631l. Determination of expenses and time for filing suit, notice of claim and debt claim
- § 1631m. Lien, attachment, garnishment, etc., of transferred property
- § 1631n. Penalties
- § 1631o. Eligibility for return of interest in property
Whenever shares of stock or other beneficial interest in any corporation, association, or company or trust are vested in any officer or agency designated by the President under this subchapter, it shall be the duty of the corporation, association, or company or trustee or trustees issuing such shares or any certificates or other instruments representing the same or any other beneficial interest to cancel such shares of stock or other beneficial interest upon its, his, or their books and in lieu thereof to issue certificates or other instruments for such shares or other beneficial interest to the designee of the President, or otherwise as such designee shall require.
Any vesting order, or other order or requirement issued pursuant to this subchapter, or a duly certified copy thereof, may be filed, registered, or recorded in any office for the filing, registering, or recording of conveyances, transfers, or assignments of such property as may be covered by such order or requirement; and if so filed, registered, or recorded shall impart the same notice and have the same force and effect as a duly executed conveyance, transfer, or assignment so filed, registered, or recorded.
Any payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery of property made to the President or his designee pursuant to this subchapter, or any rule, regulation, instruction, or direction issued under this subchapter, shall to the extent thereof be a full acquittance and discharge for all purposes of the obligation of the person making the same; and no person shall be held liable in any court for or in respect of any such payment, conveyance, transfer, assignment, or delivery made in good faith in pursuance of and in reliance on the provisions of this subchapter, or of any rule, regulation, instruction, or direction issued thereunder.
The district courts of the United States are given jurisdiction to make and enter all such rules as to notice and otherwise, and all such orders and decrees, and to issue such process as may be necessary and proper in the premises to enforce the provisions of this subchapter, with a right of appeal from the final order or decree of such court as provided in chapter 83 of title 28.
The officer or agency designated by the President under this subchapter to entertain claims under sections 1631f(b) and 1631g 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 1631f(b) and 1631g of this title may be exercised through subordinate officers designated by such officer or agency.
No suit may be instituted pursuant to section 1631f(a) of this title after the expiration of one year from the date of vesting of the property in respect of which relief is sought. No return may be made pursuant to section 1631f(b) of this title unless notice of claim has been filed within one year from the date of vesting of the property in respect of which the claim is filed.
No property or proceeds shall be returned under this subchapter, nor shall any payment be made or judgment awarded in respect of any property vested in any officer or agency designated by the President under this subchapter unless satisfactory evidence is furnished to said designee, or the court, as the case may be, that the aggregate of the fees to be paid to all agents, attorneys at law or in fact, or representatives, for services rendered in connection with such return or payment or judgment does not exceed 10 per centum of the value of such property or proceeds or of such payment. Any agent, attorney at law or in fact, or representative, believing that the aggregate of the fees should be in excess of such 10 per centum may, in the case of any return of, or the making of any payment in respect of, such property or proceeds by the President or such officer or agency as he may designate, petition the district court of the United States for the district in which he resides for an order authorizing fees in excess of 10 per centum and shall name such officer or agency as respondent. The court hearing such petition or a court awarding any judgment in respect of any such property or proceeds, as the case may be, shall approve an aggregate of fees in excess of 10 per centum of the value of such property or proceeds only upon a finding that there exist special circumstances of unusual hardship which require the payment of such excess. Any person accepting any fee in excess of an amount approved under this section, or retaining for more than thirty days any portion of a fee, accepted prior to such approval, in excess of the fee as approved, shall be guilty of a violation of this subchapter.
No property conveyed, transferred, assigned, delivered, or paid to the designee of the President under this subchapter, or the net proceeds thereof, shall be liable to lien, attachment, garnishment, trustee process, or execution, or subject to any order or decree of any court, except as provided in this subchapter.
Whoever shall willfully violate any provision of this subchapter or any rule or regulation issued hereunder, and whoever shall willfully violate, neglect, or refuse to comply with any order of the President or of a designee of the President under this subchapter, issued in compliance with the provisions of this subchapter shall be fined not more than $5,000, or, if a natural person, imprisoned for not more than five years, or both; and the officer, director, or agent of any corporation who knowingly participates in such violation shall be punished by a like fine, imprisonment, or both.