Dutch central bank shifts 86 tonnes of gold to London over geopolitical unrest
By Aboki Forex —
The Dutch central bank, DNB, has moved 86 tonnes of its gold reserves out of the United States and Canada to London, citing rising geopolitical tensions. The bank said gold held in London can now be deployed faster during a crisis.
Why London?
DNB said gold reserves stored in London can be traded more easily than those held in New York and Ottawa. “This makes it the quickest for DNB to deploy in a crisis situation,” the bank said in a statement.
DNB President Olaf Sleijpen added: “With this step, we have improved the deployability of the gold reserves. We assume that we will never need to deploy the gold, but it is nevertheless necessary to strengthen our resilience and preparedness.”
The Dutch central bank’s total gold stock stood at 612.4 tonnes, valued at 72.2 billion euros at the end of 2025.
How the transfer was done
Before the move, DNB held 31.3 per cent of its gold in New York and 19.7 per cent in Ottawa. After the reshuffle, each location accounts for 18.5 per cent of Dutch gold reserves. London’s share jumped from 18.1 per cent to 32.1 per cent, while the Netherlands still holds 30.8 per cent.
The bank said the transfer was carried out partly through buying and selling and partly through physical transport. More than 27 tonnes of physical gold were moved from the United States and Canada to Zeist, while the same amount went from Zeist to London. This was done to avoid melting down gold bars.
“By combining buying and selling and physical transport, the risks associated with physically moving a large quantity of gold have been spread,” DNB said. The operation ran between March and August this year.
Other central banks watching
Laurent Schwartz, president of the Paris-based National Gold Counter, said central banks have been relocating reserves 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 AFP.
Schwartz noted that the London market is the deepest and most liquid, making it easier to act in times of crisis. “Central banks can more easily lend their gold there to other banking institutions,” he said.
John Plassard, analyst at Cite Gestion Private Bank, said the Dutch move was meant “for there to be more immediate availability in the event of a crisis.” He described it as a “fairly one-off move” for now, but warned that if other central banks do the same, it could damage confidence in the United States.
Germany’s Bundesbank has so far decided not to pull its gold from New York. “The New York Fed is and remains an important storage site for our gold,” the bank told public TV station ARD in January.