Naming rights talks for New York stadium discontinued

The Allianz board did not reach a decision for an immediate agreement at its meeting on September 9. The Meadowlands Stadium Company decided not to pursue further talks thereafter.

Several media stories appeared in the greater New York area about Allianz’s candidacy as a stadium sponsor. These stories covered the naming rights talks and in that context also addressed Allianz history as a major German company during the Nazi era. The reports could not cover in detail the many actions that Allianz has taken over the past 60 years to redress the wrong doings perpetrated during the Third Reich.

The Company began its efforts in the 1950’s by working in close cooperation with the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, to try to make certain that restitution was made to those who lost their properties during the Nazi period. Since its inception in 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany has sought to provide redress to the crimes committed by the Nazi Regime and acknowledged its obligation to provide material restitution.

In 1998, Allianz joined with international Jewish organizations and the State of Israel, U.S. State Insurance regulators, and other European insurance companies, in establishing the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC), which was funded by the insurance companies. During the ensuing nine years, ICHEIC paid over 48,000 claims and distributed 300 million US dollars, with a large portion of this going to claims whose policies were issued in Eastern Europe from companies that were nationalized by the communist governments after World War II.

In addition to being a founding member of ICHEIC, Allianz became a Charter Member of the German Economy Foundation Initiative (GEFI) in 2000. The GEFI was involved in the creation of Germany’s Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility, and the Future" which was capitalized with  10 billion D-marks, valued in September 2003 at approximately 5.1 billion euros or 5.7 billion US dollars, and endorsed by the United States of America and Israel. Five billion D-marks was raised by the sixteen Charter Member companies and thousands of other small and large companies in Germany. (The other five billion D-marks was donated by the Government of Germany.) The Foundation has made payments to former slave and forced laborers. The Foundation also made compensation available to those affected by other injustices from the National Socialist period including compensation for unpaid or confiscated and not otherwise compensated insurance policies.

Allianz’s work has received recognition from many of the organizations and individuals with whom it has worked during the past decade. In 2007, the North American Board of Rabbis provided Allianz with its Tikun Olam award for its efforts in providing justice to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and for their work in promoting better understanding between the Jewish-American Community and the people of Germany.

Allianz operates in over 70 countries through subsidiaries. The United States remains an important marketplace where it employs over 11,000 people in its Banking, Insurance and Asset Management businesses.


As with all content published on this site, these statements are subject to our Forward Looking Statement disclaimer.
Link to the disclaimer