European central banks move gold out of U.S as ‘geopolitical risks’ mount

The Netherlands has shifted 86 tonnes of gold away from North America after France moved 129 tonnes out of New York, as central banks rethink where they keep national reserves

European central banks are moving billions of euros worth of gold away from North America as growing geopolitical uncertainty prompts a rethink over where national reserves should be held.

The Netherlands, the latest country to act, redistributed about 86 tonnes from holdings in the U.S and Canada to London between March and August as part of an effort to make its reserves easier to access and trade during a severe crisis.

The move follows France’s decision to remove its remaining gold from New York and echoes an earlier programme by Germany to bring hundreds of tonnes back to Frankfurt.

It underlines a growing focus among European central banks on keeping more of their bullion either at home or within major European trading centres rather than relying as heavily on vaults across the Atlantic.

Gold reserves act as a financial backstop for central banks, retaining value during periods of economic or political instability and providing an asset that can be sold or exchanged when other parts of the financial system come under pressure.

London is attractive to central banks because bullion held at the Bank of England sits at the heart of one of the world’s biggest gold markets, allowing reserves to be bought, sold or deployed quickly when required.

For the Netherlands, the latest reshuffle means London now holds 32.1 per cent of its gold, slightly more than the 30.8 per cent stored domestically, while New York and Ottawa each account for 18.5 per cent.

Before the change, almost a third of Dutch reserves were held in New York and a further 19.7 per cent in Canada.

Around 59 tonnes was sold in New York and replaced with gold bought in London. More than 27 tonnes was transported from North America to the Netherlands, with a similar quantity transferred from Dutch vaults to London.

The Netherlands’ total gold reserves remain unchanged at 612.4 tonnes.

De Nederlandsche Bank said holdings in New York and Ottawa could not be used as rapidly or directly in a crisis, while a more balanced spread between Europe and North America would improve resilience amid what it described as “increasing geopolitical unrest”.

The Banque de France revealed earlier this year that it had sold 129 tonnes of gold stored in New York and bought replacement bars in Europe, removing the final five per cent of its reserves held in the U.S without changing the overall size of its 2,437-tonne stock.

The New York bars did not meet the modern London Bullion Market Association purity standard, according to the French central bank, making a sale in America and repurchase in Europe simpler than transporting and remelting the bullion.

The transaction also generated an €11bn capital gain in 2025.

Germany carried out a much larger repatriation programme between 2013 and 2017, transferring 300 tonnes from New York and 374 tonnes from Paris to Frankfurt as part of a strategy to keep half of the country’s reserves on German soil.

In a statement, Olaf Sleijpen, the governor of De Nederlandsche Bank, said: “With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves. We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness.”

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