SOURCE: NEW YORK FEDERAL RESERVE Why the Netherlands is moving gold worth billions out of the US

SOURCE: NEW YORK FEDERAL RESERVE Why the Netherlands is moving gold worth billions out of the US The Netherlands has revealed it moved tons of gold worth billions of dollars from North America to London. Here's why. Between March and August, Nicole Sy Bloomberg News Between March and August, the Dutch central bank secretly transferred about 86 metric tons of gold from vaults in the US and Canada. The destination: the Bank of England. About 27 tons of gold was physically moved from North America to the Netherlands, with a similar quantity then transferred to London. The remaining 59 tons were by selling in New York and buying the equivalent in the UK. The complex plan wasn't made public until it was completed because it was a matter of vital public interest, according to the Dutch finance minister. Dutch Central Bank Moves Gold to London from US, Canada Location Spread before relocation (%) Spread after relocation (%) Zeist 30.8 30.8 London 18.1 32.1 New York 31.3 18.5 Ottawa 19.7 18.5 Source: De Nederlandsche Bank Now London is home to nearly a third of Dutch gold reserves, even more than the Netherlands keeps at home. there's good reason for that. The Bank of England sits at the heart of one of the world's biggest and most liquid gold markets, where hundreds of billions of dollars worth of bullion change hands every week. Central banks have long spread their gold across different countries, with the US home to the world's largest stockpile of bullion. US and Western Europe Own The World's Biggest Gold Stashes Gold Reserves (tons) US 8,134 Germany 3,350 Italy 2,452 France 2,437 China 2,346 Russia 2,283 Switzerland 1,040 India 881 Japan 846 Poland 632 Note: Top 10 reported official national gold holdings (as per most recently available figures by August 2026) Source: World Gold Council, IMF, Respective Central Banks But geopolitical tensions are putting a new focus on where countries keep their reserves. SOURCE: US CENTRAL COMMAND France recently sold its remaining bullion held in the US and bought gold in Paris. BANQUE DE FRANCE Although the French central bank says the move was more for technical reasons rather than geopolitical. Germany and Italy have also faced renewed calls to bring home reserves stored in New York. SOURCE: NEW YORK FEDERAL RESERVE And the debate matters more as central banks pile into gold. A record 45% say they plan to increase their reserves over the next year. So the gold rush isn't just about how much countries own anymore. It's increasingly about where they want to keep it.