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ZURICH (JTA) — The honorary chairman of the Union Bank of Switzerland is trying to backtrack on anti-Semitic comments he made to The New Yorker magazine in April.

The official, Robert Holzach said, "The banking scandal is really a war. This had to do with a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world's prestigious financial markets, something which is already happening in New York, London, and even Frankfurt."

The quote was part of a lengthy article on Switzerland's dealings with Nazi Germany.

But in an interview, Holzach said he did not remember using the word "conspiracy."