The Swiss may be prepared to renegotiate the 1946 Washington agreement under which it paid $200-million to settle the question of looted Nazi gold deposited in Swiss banks, officials hinted Monday. The agreement, under which the Allies waived all future claims on Switzerland, has been the focus of considerable attention after a British Foreign Office report suggesting Switzerland may still be holding up to 90 percent of the gold looted by the Germans. Flavio Cotti, Switzerland's foreign minister, said Monday that Switzerland still stood by the 1946 agreement, which settled all legal aspects concerning his country's wartime gold transactions with Germany. However, if new facts arise, then there might be a case for questioning the 1946 agreement, he said. Cotti was speaking at a news conference in Berne where he launched Switzerland's plans to deal with the mounting international criticism of the country's wartime dealings with the Germans. The plans involve new legislation to lift Swiss bank secrecy laws temporarily to enable a government-appointed panel of investigators to get to the bottom of the issue. Cotti said the issue was causing "serious harm to Switzerland's image." Switzerland intended to answer once and for all questions that have never received a proper answer in earlier official investigations. Swiss officials stressed the investigation would be wider than the issue of unclaimed assets. It will also examine whether the Swiss government and institutions behaved properly in relations with the Germans. Hans Meyer, chairman of the Swiss National Bank, which was the main conduit for Germany's gold transactions with the outside world, said the facts about Switzerland's gold trading were well known. The main issue was not about the volume of gold traded but what were the intentions of the Swiss officials involved: "Should the Swiss National Bank have known that the gold was stolen?" Meyer asked. The problem facing the investigation into the dealings over 50 years ago is that most of the participants are dead and Swiss banks are only obliged to keep records for 10 years after an account is closed.