We want our Gold back!

European Central Banks do not trust the Federal Reserve Bank in New York and they want their gold sent home. The Germans tried and failed when they wanted to ship home 300 tonnes.

The German delegation was denied to see their gold first hand, which triggered the belief that the Federal Reserve Bank did have any gold at all.

21. November 2014

This press release from De Nederlandsche Bank shows just how nervous they are for their precious metal: De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has adjusted its gold stock location policy and has shipped gold from the United States to the Netherlands to spread its gold stock in a more balanced way.

   Under the previous policy, 11% of the gold stock was located in the Netherlands, 51% in the United States, with the remainder held in Canada (20%) and the United Kingdom (18%).

   Under the new policy, the breakdown by location is as follows: 31% in Amsterdam, 31% in New York, with the relative holdings in Ottawa and London remaining unchanged at 20% and 18%, respectively.

   Following this adjustment, DNB is in line with other central banks holding a greater part of their gold stock in their own countries.

   Beyond realising a more balanced distribution of the gold stock across the different locations, this may also have a positive effect on public confidence…. De Nederlandsche Bank Press Release

Bank of No-Way

But why all this worry when the Norwegian Central Bank (Norges Bank) claims that gold in itself is uninteresting as a National asset? And The Norwegian oil fund got 8000 billion NOK (1200 billion US dollars) to diversify into gold…  … and also have a positive effect on the Norwegian “public confidence”. A press release extract explains why: Norges Bank has sold 16 tonnes of gold bars in January and is planning to sell the remainder of the Central Bank's holdings of gold bars at a later time. (Another 20 tonnes were later sold)… … The background to the sale is that gold only accounted for just over one per cent of the Bank's international reserves, and thus contributed little towards diversifying the risk associated with the reserves. The return on gold has historically been low.  Norges Bank Press Release