De Nederlandsche Bank shifted reserves from New York and Ottawa to the Bank of England, citing geopolitical volatility and London’s deep market liquidity for crisis deployability.
DNB improves tradability of gold reserves | De Nederlandsche Bank, the central bank’s own release, directly confirms that approximately 86 tonnes were relocated from New York and Ottawa to London, that London’s share increased from 18.1% to 32.1%, and that the purpose was stronger liquidity, tradability, and crisis preparedness. The exact framing of “heightened geopolitical risks” is less explicit in DNB’s release: it refers to extreme systemic risks and resilience rather than stating geopolitical risk as the direct reason. The Yahoo report uses the geopolitical-unrest framing, but the core factual claim is fully confirmed by DNB.
De Nederlandsche Bank has completed a months-long relocation of more than 85 metric tons of gold from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Ottawa to the Bank of England in London, Governor Olaf Sleijpen said on September 2. The operation moved more than 78 tons from New York and 7 tons from Canada, lifting London’s share of Dutch reserves from 18.1% to 32.1% and making it the largest storage site, ahead of the Zeist cash center at 30.8%, while New York and Ottawa each fell to 18.5%. At the end of 2025 the Netherlands held 612.4 tons of gold valued at about 72.2 billion euros, or roughly 83.7 billion dollars. Sleijpen said the shift responds to an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment by spreading reserves more evenly and improving crisis deployability and tradability, even if the metal is never used. About 27 tons were shipped physically via Zeist before an equivalent amount went to London, while roughly 59 tons were sold in New York and replaced with London-standard bars to limit transport risk; Finance Minister Eelco Heinen said preparations stayed undisclosed until completion because of the public interest involved. London’s physical gold market, with weekly volumes above 900 billion dollars, offers high fungibility and faster mobilization than holdings on other continents. The Dutch step fits a wider European reassessment: the Bank of France fully withdrew its New York gold between July 2025 and January 2026 and booked an 11 billion euro gain through sell-and-rebuy mechanics, while Germany still keeps about one-third of its reserves at the New York Fed and has rejected further repatriation demands. European Central Bank data show gold overtook U.S. government bonds in 2025 as the world’s largest reserve asset, with prices up about 25% over 12 months to around 4,364 dollars an ounce.