French Central Bank Clears New York Fed Gold and Stores All in Paris

The Bank of France sold all 129 tons of gold stored at the New York Federal Reserve through 26 transactions between July 2025 and January 2026, then repurchased an equivalent amount of gold bars that meet current delivery standards in the European market, and transported them to the underground vault in Paris. France's total gold reserves remain approximately 2,437 tons, now all located within the country.

This 129 tons accounts for about 5% of the reserves, with some bars traceable to the late 1920s, whose purity and weight no longer meet the current standards of the London Bullion Market Association. The central bank chose to sell the old bars at high prices in New York and buy new bars in Europe to avoid transatlantic transport, insurance, and refining. Governor François Villeroy de Galhau stated that the change of storage location to Paris was "not politically motivated," as the new bars were traded in the European market.

This operation realized foreign exchange and capital gains of approximately €11 billion to €12.8 billion. The central bank's net profit for 2025 is expected to be around €8.1 billion, reversing a loss of about €7.7 billion in 2024. Paris still has about 134 tons of old bars and coins that need to meet standards before 2028. The reserve size has not changed since 2009, making France the fourth largest official gold holder in the world, after the United States, Germany, and Italy.

Since the era of de Gaulle, France has continuously repatriated its gold from abroad. Germany repatriated about 674 tons from New York and Paris between 2013 and 2017; currently, Germany still has about one-third, over 1,200 tons, at the New York Fed, and Italy also has a significant share in the U.S. The Dutch central bank recently transferred about 86 tons from North America to London, reducing New York's share from 31% to about 19%, citing "crisis preparedness" and "geopolitical turmoil" as reasons.

Social media has portrayed this as a sudden blow from Macron to Trump. The timeline does not match: the delivery was completed in January this year, and on March 24, the central bank disclosed this with its annual report. The renewed attention is due to the Dutch transfer of gold bars bringing "European gold leaving New York" back into the information flow. The official stance has always been about technical upgrades and cashing in on high gold prices, not a diplomatic declaration.

In market mechanisms, what is bought are standard gold bars that can be delivered immediately in London and the custody rights in the home country, while what is sold are non-standard old bars held by the New York Fed. Funds are transferred from dollar custody accounts to physical gold in Europe at high gold prices. The beneficiaries are the balance sheet of the French central bank and the control of the Paris vault; the pressured party is New York's share as an official gold custody hub for Europe. Gold has surpassed U.S. Treasury bonds to become the largest reserve asset under certain statistical measures, and the custody location itself is beginning to be repriced.

Supplement: The U.S. itself holds about 8,133 tons of official gold. The New York Fed remains an important storage point for countries like Germany; the Federal Bank still calls it "still important" this year.

Source: Public information