Netherlands moves around €10 billion in gold reserves to London

The gold transferred between March and August 2026 represents roughly €10 billion based on the value of the country's reserves at the end of 2025. DNB said the move was designed to make more of its gold easier to trade and use during a severe crisis.

Most of the gold previously held in New York and Ottawa was relocated to London, one of the world's main centers for physical gold trading. Gold stored with the Bank of England meets international market standards and can be traded more quickly than reserves held in the United States and Canada, according to DNB.

“With this relocation, we have improved the tradability of our gold reserves. We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness,” DNB Governor Olaf Sleijpen said.

The Netherlands holds a total of 612.4 tons of gold, valued at €72.2 billion at the end of 2025. The reserves are distributed among the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada as part of a long-standing strategy to spread risk.

Following the relocation, London's share of Dutch gold reserves rose from 18.1% to 32.1%. The share held in New York fell from 31.3% to 18.5%, while Ottawa's share declined from 19.7% to 18.5%. The DNB Cash Centre in Zeist continues to hold 30.8%.

The relocation was carried out through a combination of transactions and physical transfers. DNB sold about 59 tons of gold held in New York and bought an equivalent amount in London that meets international trading standards.

More than 27 tons were also physically moved from the United States and Canada to Zeist, while a similar amount of trade-ready gold was transferred from Zeist to London. The approach avoided the need to remelt gold bars.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that gold prices faced short-term pressure during early Asian trading on Tuesday.