Title 22, Foreign Relations and IntercourseRelease 119-110

§1644d Claims Based on Ownership Interest in or Debt or Other Obligation Owing by Corporations or Other Legal Entities

Title 22 › CHAPTER 21 — SETTLEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL CLAIMS › SUBCHAPTER VI — CLAIMS AGAINST GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC › § 1644d

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Sets rules for when U.S. nationals can claim losses tied to companies or debts after property was nationalized, expropriated, or taken by the German Democratic Republic. You cannot make a claim based on ownership in a company that was itself a U.S. national. A claim based on a debt counts only if the debt was a charge on property that was taken. A direct ownership claim is allowed if the company was not a U.S. national on the loss date. An indirect claim is allowed only if at least 25% of the company was owned by U.S. nationals then. Any award equals the company’s total loss times the claimant’s ownership share at the time of loss.

Full Legal Text

Title 22, §1644d

Foreign Relations and Intercourse, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Nationals of the United States; charge on property

A claim under section 1644b of this title based upon an ownership interest in any corporation, association, or other entity which is a national of the United States, shall not be considered. A claim under section 1644b of this title based upon a debt or other obligation owing by any corporation, association, or other entity organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be considered only when such debt or other obligation is a charge on property which has been nationalized, expropriated, or taken by the German Democratic Republic.

(b)Direct ownership

A claim under section 1644b of this title based upon a direct ownership interest in a corporation, association, or other entity for loss, shall be considered subject to the provisions of this subchapter, if such corporation, association or other entity on the date of the loss was not a national of the United States, without regard to the per centum of ownership vested in the claimant.

(c)Indirect ownership

A claim under section 1644b of this title for losses based upon an indirect ownership interest in a corporation, association, or other entity, shall be considered, subject to the other provisions of this subchapter, only if at least 25 per centum of the entire ownership interest thereof, at the time of such loss, was vested in nationals of the United States.

(d)Computation of award

The amount of any claim covered by subsections (b) or (c) of this section shall be calculated on the basis of the total loss suffered by such corporation, association, or other entity, and shall bear the same proportion to such loss as the ownership interest of the claimant at the time of loss bears to the entire ownership interest thereof.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

22 U.S.C. § 1644d

Title 22, Foreign Relations and Intercourse

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110