Appeal No. 2005-2643
Reexamination Control No. 90/005,842
depositors for half their loss due to inflation,” id. at 50, last para., that initial idea was not
adopted. Instead,
[w]hat was eventually decided was different and more complex. Not all
deposits were index-linked, but only specifically designated accounts
carrying certain restrictions on withdrawal. Full inflation proofing was
given to these designated accounts. The money needed to make them
keep pace with the cost of living was found by imposing an ‘index
surcharge’ on all loans. The amount of the surcharge was usually fixed
according to the proportion of the bank’s deposits benefiting by index
adjustment, so that the bank could just balance its commitments.
Id. at 50-51. The first index-linked bank deposit accounts went into effect in May 1955
and had the following characteristics:
(1) A lump sum of 30,000 markka was required to open the account;
(2) Withdrawals were not permitted during the first year;
(3) The fixed interest paid on the account balance was 1 to 1½ percentage
points below that paid for normal deposits; and
(4) They did not share the tax exemption enjoyed by ordinary savings accounts.
Mukherjee at 51, 2d full para.
Furthermore, the indexing feature operated in a stepped, discontinuous manner
rather than a continuous manner:
Once the cost-of-living index (October 1951 = 100) had risen 2 points
above 104, the capital was increased by as many as 2 full per cents as the
index had risen between deposit and withdrawal. The figures used were
the averages (to the nearest whole number) of the index values for the
three months before deposit and withdrawal respectively. The system did
not work the other way; no reduction would take place if the index fell.
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