Dutch central bank moves 86 tonnes of gold from US and Canada to London

The Dutch central bank has moved 86 tonnes of gold from storage in the US and Canada to London. It said London’s market allows the metal to be traded more easily and deployed more quickly in a crisis.

The operation took place between March and August this year. The Netherlands’ total gold stock stood at 612.4 tonnes and was valued at €72.2bn at the end of 2025.

Shares held in each location

Before the move, New York held 31.3% of Dutch gold and Ottawa held 19.7%. Afterward, each location accounted for 18.5%, while London’s share rose from 18.1% to 32.1%. The Netherlands still held 30.8% of the reserves domestically.

The transfer combined buying and selling with physical transport. More than 27 tonnes of physical gold were moved from the US and Canada to Zeist, with the same amount then sent from Zeist to London, avoiding the need to melt down the bars.

Bank rationale and expert views

DNB president Olaf Sleijpen said the bank had strengthened the reserves’ deployability and its preparedness, while expecting never to need the gold in a crisis. DNB said combining trading with physical transport spread the risks of moving a large quantity of metal.

Laurent Schwartz of France’s National Gold Counter said central banks had been rearranging their reserves for about a decade and that the political climate in the US could encourage some to choose other storage locations. Cite Gestion Private Bank analyst John Plassard described the Dutch move as intended to provide faster access in a crisis, but said it was still largely a one-off action.

Germany also saw concerns raised earlier this year about the security of Bundesbank reserves in New York. The German central bank told broadcaster ARD that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York remained an important storage site for its gold.