New Delhi: Nearly 86 tonnes of gold reserves have been moved out of the United States and Canada by the Dutch central bank. The bank cites “increasing geopolitical unrest” and the need to improve crisis preparedness as the reason behind the move.
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) confirmed on 2 September that the transfer, carried out between March and August 2026, involved roughly a quarter of the gold it previously held in New York and Ottawa. The bank said gold stored with the Bank of England is regarded as the world’s most easily tradable physical gold and can therefore be deployed more quickly in a crisis.
“This ensures that DNB is better prepared for severe crises,” the bank said in a statement.
The bank described the step as part of broader efforts to enhance crisis readiness amid rising geopolitical tensions.
“With this relocation, we have improved the tradeability of our gold reserves,” DNB president Olaf Sleijpen said in the statement. “We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness.”
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More gold for London
The Netherlands holds a total of 612.4 tonnes of gold, valued at €72.2 billion at the end of 2025. Before the move, approximately 31.3 per cent was stored in New York and 19.7 per cent in Ottawa. After the transfer, both locations now hold 18.5 per cent each. London’s share has risen from 18.1 per cent to 32.1 per cent, making it the largest single storage site, while 30.8 per cent remains in the Netherlands (primarily at the DNB Cash Centre in Zeist).
The operation combined physical shipments and market transactions to limit risk. About 27 tonnes of gold bars were physically moved from the US and Canada to Zeist. An equivalent quantity meeting international market standards was then transferred from Zeist to London, avoiding the need to melt bars. Separately, nearly 59 tonnes held in New York were sold, with equivalent gold purchased in London.
“By combining buying and selling and physical transport, the risks associated with physically moving a large quantity of gold have been spread,” the DNB said.
President of the Paris-based National Gold Counter which facilitates gold trading in France, Laurent Schwartz, noted that central banks’ gold reserves had been moving around for about a decade.
“The current political context in the United States might also push certain central banks into favouring other storage locations,” he told the Guardian.
Schwartz added that the London market was the deepest and most liquid – making it easier to deploy in times of crisis.
“Central banks can more easily lend their gold there to other banking institutions,” he said.