Dutch shift 86 tonnes of gold from US and Canada to UK
THE HAGUE - The Dutch central bank said on Wednesday that it had moved 86 tonnes of its gold reserves out of the United States and Canada to London, citing “increasing geopolitical unrest”.
The Dutch central bank announced on Wednesday that it had relocated 86 tonnes of its gold reserves from the United States and Canada to London, driven by concerns over "increasing geopolitical unrest". De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) explained that gold reserves stored in London could be more easily traded compared to those held in New York and Ottawa.
This move, stated DNB, allows for quicker deployment of reserves in a crisis situation. DNB President Olaf Sleijpen emphasized that while the bank assumes it will never need to deploy the gold, enhancing resilience and preparedness is crucial.
Prior to the shift, the Dutch central bank held 31.3% of its gold in New York and 19.7% in Ottawa. After the move, each of these countries now holds 18.5% of the Netherlands' gold reserves, while London's share increased from 18.1% to 32.1%. Currently, 30.8% of the gold remains in the Netherlands. The transfer was achieved through a combination of purchasing, selling, and physically transporting the gold bars.
27 tonnes of physical gold were moved from the United States and Canada to Zeist, a town near Utrecht in the Netherlands, and the same amount was moved from Zeist to London, all without melting down the gold bars. This strategy, according to the DNB, spreads the risks associated with physically relocating a large quantity of gold. The operation took place between March and August of this year.
Laurent Schwartz, president of the Paris-based National Gold Counter, noted that central banks have been moving their reserves around for about a decade. The current political situation in the United States may further encourage central banks to favor alternative storage locations, according to Schwartz. He highlighted that the London market is the deepest and most liquid, facilitating easier crisis deployment and interbank lending of gold.
John Plassard, an analyst at Cite Gestion Private Bank, stated that the Dutch move aimed to ensure more immediate availability in case of a crisis. While this is a one-off move for now, Plassard warned that if other central banks follow suit, it could potentially undermine confidence in the United States. Germany's Bundesbank, for instance, decided not to relocate its reserves away from New York for now, maintaining that the New York Fed remains an important storage site for its gold.
Written by urgent.news from Bangkok Post Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
