The Dutch Central Bank moved 86 tonnes of gold from the United States and Canada to London on Wednesday, citing rising geopolitical tensions as it seeks to increase the deployability of its reserves in the event of a crisis.
Rebalancing reserves
The transfer altered the distribution of the Dutch central bank’s 612.4-tonne gold stock, valued at 72.2 billion euro as of end of 2025. Before the move, the bank held 31.3 percent of its gold in New York and 19.7 percent in Ottawa. After the transfer, New York and Ottawa combined held 37 percent. London’s share rose to 32.1 percent from 18.1 percent, while the Netherlands held 30.8 percent.
Gold held in London is more liquid than reserves in New York and Ottawa, allowing faster deployment if needed. The Dutch central bank combined trading transactions with physical shipment to manage the operation, moving more than 27 tonnes of physical gold from the US and Canada to Zeist before sending an equal amount onward to London to avoid melting of gold bars.
Crisis readiness
Olaf Sleijpen, the Dutch Central Bank Governor, said the reallocation had “increased the deployability of our gold reserves.” He added: “We assume we will never have to use it, but we must nevertheless strengthen our resilience and preparedness.” The central bank stated that combining trading and physical transportation had “distributed the risks associated with physically transporting large quantities of gold.”
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Source: Dutch Central Bank
