Central Banks Repatriate Gold Reserves Amid Sanctions Fears
According to Rhona O'Connell, Head of Market Analysis for EMEA & Asia at StoneX, central banks are not selling off their gold reserves, but rather moving them from one location to another due to perceived risks of sanctions and seizure.
The Netherlands' central bank repatriated its gold from North America into Europe, with 86 tonnes moved from the U.S. and Canada to London in September.
O'Connell noted that the Banque de France sold 129 tonnes of its gold reserve in New York between June 2025 and January 2026, but bought it back in Europe, effectively moving the gold to Paris.
The risk of U.S. sanctions is cited as a major driver for these moves, with O'Connell attributing the acceleration to the freezing of approximately $300 billion in Russian central bank reserves by Western nations in 2022.