The Dutch central bank has relocated 86 tonnes of its gold reserves to London, moving most of the bullion from New York and the remainder from Canada as part of what it describes as preparations for potential crises amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty.
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) carried out the operation between March and August, physically transporting about 27 tonnes across the Atlantic while transferring the balance through sales in North America followed by equivalent purchases in London. DNB Governor Olaf Sleijpen said the change would make the reserves easier to trade while strengthening the bank’s resilience in an emergency.
The Netherlands held around 313 tonnes of gold in North America before the latest move and reported total reserves of 612.4 tonnes at the end of 2025, then valued at approximately €72 billion. DNB described gold held at the Bank of England as particularly liquid because of London’s importance in the international bullion market.
The transfer follows similar moves by other countries to reduce gold holdings stored in the United States. France reportedly shifted the equivalent of its remaining 129 tonnes from Federal Reserve vaults in New York to Europe between July 2025 and January 2026, while Germany completed the repatriation of 300 tonnes from New York to Frankfurt in 2017. Calls have since emerged from some German economists for the Bundesbank to bring additional reserves home.
The trend is not confined to Europe. Venezuela repatriated roughly 160 tonnes of overseas gold under former president Hugo Chávez, completing the operation in 2012, although around 31 tonnes subsequently became the subject of a long-running dispute over Venezuelan bullion held by the Bank of England. The Dutch decision adds to renewed debate over where countries should store strategic gold reserves as geopolitical and financial uncertainty increases.
Image credit: Rodion Kutsaev
Good move before the Orange Trumpet dreams up a scheme to make it his.