The Netherlands has moved 86 tonnes of its sovereign gold reserves out of North America, in a large-scale operation carried out by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) between March and August.
What actually moved, and where
The relocation shifted billions of dollars in gold bullion out of vaults in New York and Ottawa into secure facilities in London. The move significantly reduced the share of Dutch gold held by the US Federal Reserve in New York, dropping from 31.3% of the country's total reserves to 18.5%. London's Bank of England vaults now hold 32.1% of the Netherlands' gold stockpile, making the UK the largest single overseas location for Dutch reserves.
Logistically, the bank used a hybrid approach rather than physically transporting all the gold at once, selling around 59 tonnes held in New York and repurchasing equivalent bullion in London, while physically shipping over 27 tonnes through its domestic vault in Zeist. Total Dutch gold holdings are valued at more than €72 billion ($83 billion).
The official explanation
DNB has framed the move as a practical liquidity decision, saying gold held in London can be traded more quickly in a crisis, and describing the relocation as part of preparing for what it called "serious crises" amid rising geopolitical unrest.
The financial expert's warning
Financial expert Johan de Ruiter offered a more direct assessment, telling Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that keeping national wealth stored inside US borders has become an unacceptable risk given the unpredictability of Donald Trump's economic and foreign policy approach. He said the Netherlands needed to move its gold out of the US as quickly as possible, stating plainly that it was no longer safe to keep it there.
Why European institutions are growing cautious
The move comes amid broader unease among European policymakers over US trade isolationism, the threat of retaliatory tariffs, and concerns that the American banking system could theoretically be used against long-standing allies during periods of diplomatic tension, concerns that have already surfaced in the current trade dispute between the US and Canada. Some European central bankers have privately raised the possibility that deteriorating relations could put foreign reserves at risk of legal freezes or capital restrictions.
Taken together, the scale of the drawdown marks one of the clearest signs yet that major European financial institutions are actively hedging against instability tied to the current US administration.
