Should Germany Pull Its Gold Out of the U.S.?

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Can the U.S. be trusted with German gold? That’s a question being asked by some German officials.

Germany ranks second in gold reserves behind the U.S. It officially holds 3,352 tonnes of gold with about 1,236 tonnes (37 percent) held in Federal Reserve vaults in the U.S.

Some are wondering whether holding over €100 billion in gold so far away is wise, given the geopolitical climate.

European Taxpayers’ Association spokesperson Michael Jäger told The Bild that Germany should bring that gold home.

“The Bundesbank and the federal government must show foresight in this phase of global political power shifts and immediately bring back German gold from the USA. Especially at a time when immense new debt is being discussed in Berlin and Brussels, we need immediate access to all gold reserves in an emergency.”

Jäger said at the very least, the German government should “conduct a review of the reserves” held in New York and run physical tests on the bars.

This echoes calls from many in the U.S. for an audit of U.S. gold reserves stored in Ft. Knox.

A European parliament member is also calling for an audit of German gold. Markus Ferber told The Bild, “I demand the regular control of the German gold reserves. To do this, official representatives of the Bundesbank must personally count the bars and document their results.”

However, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has played down concerns, saying, “We have a trustworthy and reliable partner in the Fed in New York for the storage of our gold holdings.”

“It does not keep me awake at night. I have complete confidence in our colleagues at the American central bank.”

This may sound like a lot of political posturing, but Germany started bringing some of its gold home in 2013. The goal was to hold at least half of its reserves back within its borders by 2020. By the end of 2017, it had repatriated 674 tonnes of gold – 300 from New York and 374 from Paris.

Germans Aren’t Alone in Wanting Gold Closer to Home

Germans aren’t the only ones worried about keeping gold outside their borders. Several countries have repatriated gold over the last several years.

In 2019, Poland brought home 100 tons of gold. Hungary and Romania also repatriated some of their gold reserves around that same time. In 2015, Australia launched efforts to bring half of its reserves home. The Netherlands and Belgium have also initiated repatriation programs.

When Poland brought its gold home, National Bank of Poland Governor Adam Glapiński said that gold “symbolizes the strength of the country.”

More recently, the Reserve Bank of India brought 100 tonnes of gold home last year.

This gold repatriation trend underscores the importance of holding physical gold free from counterparty risk.

Anxiety has increased given the way the U.S. has weaponized the dollar as a foreign policy tool. This has made many world leaders wary of keeping financial assets outside of their direct control.

According to a World Gold Council survey in 2023, a “substantial share” of central banks expressed concern about potential sanctions after the U.S. and other Western countries froze almost half of Russia’s $650 billion gold and forex reserves in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. According to the WGC, 68 percent of the banks surveyed said they plan to keep their gold reserve within their country’s borders. This was up from 50 percent in 2020.

One anonymously quoted central bank official told Reuters, “We did have it [gold] held in London… but now we’ve transferred it back to our country to hold as a safe haven asset and to keep it safe.”

Invesco head of official institutions Rod Ringrow told Reuters this reflects a widely held view.

“‘If it’s my gold, then I want it in my country,’ has been the mantra we have seen in the last year or so.”

There has been speculation that countries have been moving gold and other assets out of the U.S. in the wake of economic sanctions on Russia. Still, it’s been difficult to confirm because of a lack of transparency.

Simply put, the Federal Reserve refuses to release detailed information on the amount of gold in its vaults.

Last year, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell evaded questions about the central bank’s foreign gold holdings posed by Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va). The U.S. central bank has also declined to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request for records about such holdings.

As investigative reporter Ken Silva wrote, Headline USA filed a FOIA request with the Fed for records reflecting how much gold the Federal Reserve Bank of New York currently holds in its vault, as well as records reflecting the ownership stake that each of FRBNY’s central bank/government clients have in that gold following Powell’s evasive response. The FOIA request also sought records about the Fed’s gold holdings before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The Fed denied the request.

At this point, the Bundesbank seems content with the status quo, but voices calling for the gold to come home aren’t going away. Given the geopolitical turmoil caused by the trade war, we will likely hear these voices getting louder.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.