The Swiss government has announced that it is to spend some $2 million helping museums to research the provenance of works thought to have been looted during WWII. Catherine Hickley, author of The Munich Art Hoard, has stated that Switzerland has had a ‘mixed record’ on restitution claims going back to the Nazi era, when its geographical location and history of neutrality made it a convenient destination for Nazi looters to deposit stolen wares. It is impossible to say quite how effective the initiative will prove, but it is a clear sign that the Swiss government is taking the sensitive subject of restitution with the utmost seriousness.

http://www.apollo-magazine.com/switzerland-puts-2-million-into-disputed-art-research/