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The Dutch Central Bank has relocated more than a quarter of its gold reserves held in the United States and Canada to London, as part of an effort to strengthen its ability to respond to potential financial crises, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported Wednesday.
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said approximately 86 tonnes of gold were transferred from the United States and Canada to London between March and August of this year. The amount represents more than a quarter of the roughly 313 tonnes of gold DNB had stored in the two North American countries.
DNB said the transfer was carried out to "better prepare for serious crises." The bank explained that London serves as a major global trading hub for physical gold, meaning the metal stored there could be sold more quickly if a crisis emerged. By contrast, DNB said, gold held in New York and Ottawa is "less immediately available" in such a scenario.
The relocation has significantly altered the geographic breakdown of the Netherlands' gold holdings. In New York, the share of Dutch gold reserves fell from 31.3 percent to 18.5 percent. In Canada, the proportion dropped from 19.7 percent to 18.5 percent.
Separately, more than 27 tonnes of gold were physically moved from the United States and Canada to Zeist, in the Netherlands, where DNB maintains a domestic storage facility.
The relocation follows previously voiced concerns from DNB about strains in the relationship between Europe and the United States. The central bank had warned that the United States could potentially halt payment transactions in the Netherlands, and it had argued in favor of reducing the country's financial dependence on Washington.
Despite those concerns, DNB told NOS at the time that it was not worried about the possibility that the United States might seize or restrict access to the Dutch gold reserves in the event that relations between the two sides deteriorated further.
The Netherlands has periodically adjusted the geographic distribution of its gold holdings in the past. In 2014, DNB moved 122.5 tonnes of gold from New York to its headquarters in Amsterdam, a shift the bank said at the time was intended to achieve a more balanced distribution of reserves.
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