The Dutch central bank, DNB, has shifted more than 78 tonnes of gold from New York to London citing 'increasing geopolitical unrest'. The politically sensitive transfer follows calls from European politicians and taxpayer lobbyists to repatriate gold reserves from the US, warning that an unreliable American government under President Donald Trump may otherwise seize them amid growing transatlantic tensions.

DNB stated the goal was to strengthen its 'crisis preparedness' by distributing its gold more evenly across jurisdictions. With this relocation, we have improved the tradeability of our gold reserves,' governor Olaf Sleijpen said. London is the world's largest trading hub for physical bullion, transacting more than $900bn in gold each week.

The move follows a similar decision by France, which removed all of its gold from the New York Federal Reserve between July 2025 and January 2026. Gold has overtaken US government bonds as the world's largest reserve asset, according to ECB data, but some central banks are becoming increasingly skittish about storing gold in the US. DNB's larger peer Bundesbank, which owns the second-largest gold reserves globally, decided to store half of its reserves at home in 2013, moving 674 tonnes of bullion from Paris and New York to its Frankfurt headquarters in a high-security operation that cost €7mn.

Gold prices have risen 25 per cent during the past 12 months and are currently around $4,364 per troy ounce. DNB holds 612 tonnes of gold in total and relocated just over 78 tonnes from New York as well as 7 tonnes from Ottawa in Canada, selling the remainder in the Americas and buying new bullion in London.