Netherlands moves 86 tonnes of gold from US and Canada to UK, citing 'geopolitical unrest'

The Dutch central bank (DNB) said on Wednesday it had moved 86 tonnes of its gold stock out of the United States and Canada to London, citing "increasing geopolitical unrest."

The DNB said gold reserves held in London could be traded more easily than those held in New York and Ottawa.

"This makes it the quickest for DNB to deploy in a crisis situation," said the bank in a statement.

"With this step, we have improved the deployability of the gold reserves. We assume that we will never need to deploy the gold, but it is nevertheless necessary to strengthen our resilience and preparedness," said DNB President Olaf Sleijpen.

The total Dutch gold stock amounted to 612.4 tonnes and was valued at €72.2 billion at the end of 2025, the DNB said.

Before the deployment, the Dutch bank held 31.3% of its gold in New York and 19.7% in Ottawa.

After the move, both countries account for 18.5 percent of the Dutch gold reserve.

The share of gold held in London increased from 18.1 percent to 32.1 percent. The bank still holds 30.8% of its gold in the Netherlands.

The transfer was carried out partially by buying and selling and partly by physically transferring gold, said the bank.

The bank moved more than 27 tonnes of physical gold from the United States and Canada to Zeist.

The same quantity of gold was moved from Zeist to London, preventing the melting down of gold bars.

"By combining buying and selling and physical transport, the risks associated with physically moving a large quantity of gold have been spread," said the DNB.