In what it called “crisis preparedness” during a period of worldwide political turmoil, the Dutch central bank declared on Wednesday that it had transferred billions of dollars’ worth of its gold holdings out of North America.
It stated that between March and August, around 86 metric tons (94.8 tons) of gold were sent to London from a total of approximately 313 metric tons (345 tons) that were kept in Ottawa, Canada, and New York.
Before the relocation, Ottawa owned 19.7% of the Dutch gold, while New York possessed 31.3%. Both cities now own 18.5% following the change, according to the bank.
By the end of 2025, the bank’s 612.4 metric tons (675 tons) of gold were valued at 72.2 billion euros, or almost $83.6 billion.
The governor of the bank, Olaf Sleijpen, stated in a written statement, “With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves.”
“We anticipate never having to use them, but we still need to improve our readiness and resilience.”
The Dutch bank stated that more than 27 metric tons (30 tons) of gold were “physically transferred” from the US and Canada to its carefully guarded vault on a military base close to the central town of Zeist.
The bank did not specify how the gold bars crossed the Atlantic. London received a comparable amount of gold from Zeist.
The remaining portion of the migration was accomplished by selling about 59 metric tons (65 tons) of gold in New York and purchasing gold in London with the proceeds.
Gold kept at the Bank of England “must meet modern international trade standards and is regarded as the world’s most easily tradable gold and will therefore be the most readily available for DNB in a crisis,” according to the Dutch bank, which goes by the initials DNB.
In such a scenario, the gold reserves in New York and Ottawa cannot be used as swiftly and directly.
