De Nederlandsche Bank Relocates 86 Tonnes of Gold From North America to London Amid Rising Geopolitical Unrest

The Dutch central bank (De Nederlandsche Bank) announced that it has moved approximately 86 tonnes of its gold reserves—valued at over $12 billion (€10.1 billion)—out of the United States and Canada to London, citing increasing global instability and the need to bolster crisis readiness.
Key details regarding the relocation include:
- Operational Execution: The transfer took place between March and August. Rather than physically transporting all the metal across the Atlantic, the bank executed a hybrid strategy: it sold roughly 59 tonnes in New York and bought an equivalent amount in London, while physically shipping over 27 tonnes from North America to the DNB vault in Zeist before moving an equal amount onward to London.
- Strategic Rationale: DNB noted that London serves as the world's deepest and most liquid physical gold trading hub, allowing reserves stored at the Bank of England to be mobilized and deployed much faster in a severe crisis than holdings in New York or Ottawa.
- Shift in Reserve Distribution: Following the move, the share of Dutch gold held in New York dropped from 31.3% to 18.5%, and Ottawa’s share fell from 19.7% to 18.5%. London now holds the largest single share at 32.1% (up from 18.1%), while 30.8% remains stored domestically in the Netherlands.