The Dutch central bank (DNB) transferred 86 tonnes of its gold reserves from storage in New York and Ottawa to London between March and August 2026 due to increasing geopolitical tensions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. This move shifts a significant portion of Dutch gold to London, making it the largest overseas storage location for the Netherlands.

At the end of 2025, the Netherlands held 612.4 tonnes of gold valued at approximately €72.2 billion (about $83.7 billion) [1, 9, 3, 4, 8]. Before the transfer, 31.3% of these reserves were stored in New York and 19.7% in Ottawa. After relocation, those holdings declined to 18.5% each, while the share stored in London rose from 18.1% to 32.1% [1, 2, 9, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8]. About 30.8% of the Dutch gold remains stored domestically in Zeist [1, 2, 3, 4].

The relocation involved moving over 27 tonnes of gold physically from the US and Canada to Zeist, then transporting equivalent quantities from Zeist to London. Alongside this, the bank also conducted simultaneous buying and selling of gold on the market to lower risks associated with the transfers [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].

The gold held in London is considered more liquid and can be traded faster during crises than gold stored in New York or Ottawa. Laurent Schwartz, president of the National Gold Counter, said, "The London market was the deepest and most liquid, making it easier to deploy in times of crisis. Central banks can more easily lend their gold there to other banking institutions" [1].

DNB President Olaf Sleijpen stated, "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" [1].

The transfer comes amid rising geopolitical tensions including US-Canada trade disputes and US-Iran conflicts that have impacted global trade [5, 7, 8]. John Plassard, analyst at Cite Gestion Private Bank, noted the move was intended to ensure more immediate availability in a crisis but warned, "if other central banks followed suit, it could damage confidence in the US" [1].

The Dutch central bank completed the gold relocation process over the six-month period concluding in August 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8].