Dutch Central Bank Moves Gold to London for Crisis Readiness

The Dutch central bank (DNB) announced on Wednesday that it had relocated a significant portion of its gold reserves from North America to London, describing the move as a precautionary step amid global political uncertainty.

Between March and August, approximately 86 metric tonnes of gold were transferred to London from storage facilities in New York and Ottawa. Before the move, New York held 31.3% of the Dutch gold, and Ottawa held 19.7%. After the transfer, each location now holds 18.5%.

DNB's total gold holdings stand at 612.4 metric tonnes, valued at €72.2 billion (about $83.6 billion) at the end of 2025. The bank explained that gold stored in London meets modern international trade standards and is considered the world's most easily tradable gold, making it more readily available in a crisis.

More than 27 metric tonnes were physically moved from the United States and Canada to DNB's vault on a military base near Zeist, Netherlands. A similar quantity was then transferred from Zeist to London. The remainder of the relocation was achieved by selling about 59 metric tonnes of gold in New York and using the proceeds to purchase gold in London.

Governor Olaf Sleijpen stated, "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."