In 1997, a study commissioned by the World Jewish Congress concluded that Nazi Germany had looted at least US$8.5 billion in gold between 1933 and 1945 from Jews and other victims. The study estimated that a third of the gold had come from individuals and private businesses rather than central banks and that over US$2 billion of privately owned gold eventually ended up in Swiss banks. Switzerland rejected the WJC accusations. In response to inquiries from the World Jewish Congress, the US Federal Reserve Bank admitted in 1997 that personal gold seized by the Nazis was melted into gold bars after the war and then shipped as gold bullion to the central banks of four European countries. In 1996, Sweden also opened an investigation into assertions by the World Jewish Congress that looted Nazi gold from World War II had been deposited in Swedish government bank vaults.