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TO PRIORITY FCO TEL NO 743 OF 2 AUGUST 1976.
MY TELEGRAM NO 732 1 PROPOSED VISIT TO UK BY NS OTTO HAHN
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1. DR BEEMELMARS OF THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT OF THE FEDERAL FOREIGN OFFICE TELEPHONED TODAY TO SAY THAT THE PROPOSED TEXT FOR THE EXCHANGE OF NOTES WAS ENTIRELY SATISFACTORY FROM THE GERMAN POINT OF VIEW. HE SUGGESTED HOWEVER THAT AN EXCHANGE OF THIRD PERSON NOTES BETWEEN THIS EMBASSY AND THE FEDERAL FOREIGN OFFICE WOULD SERVE THE PURPOSE WE HAD IN MIND. IT APPEARED THAT ONE REASON FOR HIS PREFERENCE WAS THAT THE USE OF FIRST PERSON NOTES MIGHT RAISE THE QUESTION OF A BERLIN CLAUSE.
2. IN REFLY TO A QUESTIOJ DEEMELMANS SAID THAT IN DECIDING THE VALUE TO BE ATTRIBUTED TO THE POINCARE (UNDERLINED) COLD FRANC THE FEDERAL GONTIAN COURTS WOULD DE LIKELY TO FOLLOW A 1974 DECISION OF THE OPENLANDROGERICHT HAMBURG (THE SUPREME COURT OF THE LAND OF HAMBURG) WHICH WAS THE HIGHEST COURT TO WHICH APPEALS IN SHIPPING CASES NORMALLY WENT. THE COURT HAD ACCEPTED A CALCULATION LINKING THE GERMAN MARK THROUGH SPECIAL DRAWING RIGHTS (SDR) OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND TO THE PRICE OF COLD ON WHICH THE SPR WERE BASED, OR THIS BASIS THE GOLD FRANC WAS WORTH APPROXIMATELY 21 PP AND THE 1500 MILLION GOLD FRANCS -SPECIFIED IN THE BRUSSELS CONVENTION APPROXIMATELY DM 320 MILLION. THIS FIGURE IS OF COURSE LOWER THAN THAT OF DM 500 MILLION SUGGESTED BY THE GERMAN EMBASSY.
3. THIS CLARIFICATION OF COURSE AT VARIANCE WITH THE ADVICE GIVEN TO US BY THE EMBASSY'S LOCAL LEGAL ADVISER (MY TEL NO 660). BEGHELNANG EMPHASISED THAT THE VALUE OF THE GOLD FRANC WAS SUBJECT TO CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY INTERNATIONALLY AS WELL AS DOMESTICALLY FOR THIS REASON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT VERE IN FAVOUR OF SUPERSEDING IT AS A UNIT OF VALUE IN #TERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS BY A NEW UNIT, PERHAGS BASED ON SUR. PEENIT.MANS MENTIONED THAT HERR GANTÉN OF THE
/MINISTRY OF JUSTICE