Citing what it called increasing geopolitical unrest, the Bank of England has become the new home for billions of dollars in Dutch gold that previously sat in vaults across New York and Ottawa. The Dutch central bank framed the relocation as a measure of crisis preparedness.
Some 86 tonnes were pulled from the roughly 313 tonnes held across the two North American cities between March and August, according to De Nederlandsche Bank, known as DNB. The operation stretched across several months, and the metal now rests in London, where it can be traded faster during periods of market stress.
Governor Olaf Sleijpen said the relocation had improved the tradability of the reserves. “We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness,” he said.
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Shares of the reserve shifted markedly as a result. New York had accounted for 31.3% and Ottawa 19.7%, but both now sit at 18.5%. London’s portion climbed from 18.1% to 32.1%, and the Netherlands retains the remaining 30.8%.
A mix of trading and physical shipment made the move possible. More than 27 tonnes of bars travelled from the United States and Canada to the bank’s guarded vault on a military base near Zeist, and a comparable amount then went from Zeist to London, sparing the bars from being melted down. The rest, roughly 59 tonnes, was sold in New York and bought back in London.
How the metal actually crossed the Atlantic remains undisclosed. Blending trades with physical transport, DNB said, spread the risks tied to moving such a large quantity.
Gold vaulted at the Bank of England ranks as the world’s most easily tradable, DNB noted, which makes it the readiest to deploy in a crisis. Holdings in New York and Ottawa, by contrast, cannot be mobilised as fast.
At the close of 2025, the total Dutch gold stock reached 612.4 tonnes, valued at 72.2 billion euros, or about $83.6 billion.
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