-- Published: Thursday, 28 August 2014 | Print | Disqus
Highlights
- Upcoming Swiss vote on gold repatriation could lead to gold repatriation from Bank of Canada
- Bank of Canada only acts as gold custodian to four foreign central banks
- Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden say they hold gold in Ottawa
- Bank of Canada no longer a major gold custodian; Canada has virtually no gold reserves
Ex Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, now Bank of England governor, holds up a gold coin at the Royal Canadian Mint to promote the public sale of rare Canadian gold coins previously stored at the Bank of Canada since 1935. Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld
In just three months, on November 30, the Swiss will vote in a federal referendum on the future of the country’s gold reserves.
The referendum has arisen through a popular initiative called ‘Save our Swiss gold initiative’. In Switzerland, citizens can propose changes to the Swiss constitution through a mechanism called a popular initiative, even if parliament is against the proposal.
The ‘Save Our Swiss Gold’ initiative is set to highlight the important issue of sovereign gold reserves and who has possession and controls them. It may lead to an important debate about each country’s national patrimony and their gold reserves.
The ‘Save Our Swiss Gold’ initiative is proposing the following:
- rules to prevent the Swiss National Bank (SNB) selling any more of the country’s gold reserves
- to direct that the SNB must keep a minimum of 20% of its reserves in gold, and
- to require that all Swiss gold must be stored in Switzerland.
This would require repatriation of Swiss gold since some of the Swiss gold reserves are stored abroad.
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) are against the proposal but were forced last year, in reaction to the popular campaign, to reveal the storage locations of the Swiss gold.
Gold bars and the Swiss flag
In April 2013, Thomas Jordan, SNB President, confirmed that 70% of Switzerland’s gold is in Switzerland, 20% is at the Bank of England, and 10% is stored with the Bank of Canada, and that this mix of holdings had been in place for more than a decade.
Since the Swiss hold a total of 1,040 tonnes of gold reserves, this would mean that there are 104 tonnes of Swiss gold at the Bank of Canada and 208 tonnes in the Bank of England. Jordan’s explanation of the foreign gold storage was that it provided "adequate regional diversification and good market access".
Since the Bank of England specialises in the custody of gold on behalf of numerous foreign central banks, it’s not surprising then that the SNB stores gold at the Bank of England.
What is surprising is that the SNB still holds gold at the Bank of Canada, since the Bank of Canada is a legacy custodian of other countries’ gold and appears to have stopped storing other nations sovereign gold in recent years.
When the Bank of Canada was asked earlier this year as to how many foreign central banks it acts as gold custodian for, it confirmed that it currently acts as gold custodian for only four foreign central banks, but that due to confidentiality, it was unable to disclose the identity of the national account holders.
However, its known from other sources that both the Netherlands and Sweden also hold some of their gold reserves at the Bank of Canada.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds 1,536 metric tons of German gold, nearly half of Berlin’s reserves. This enormous hoard of gold is stored in the fifth subfloor of the bank’s building on Liberty Street, 25 meters 80 feet) below street level, and 15 meters below sea level. Or is it? The Germans want to know and want it back, as do the Swiss and other nations.
The Dutch central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, has stated previously that most of its gold reserves are held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Canada, with less than 10% stored in the bank’s own headquarters in Amsterdam.
The Swedish Riksbank has also stated recently that its gold is stored in a number of foreign locations, such as the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England but also the Bank of Canada.
The identity of the 4th foreign central that stores gold at the Bank of Canada is unclear, but it may be the Bank of England or the Federal Reserve, since both banks historically held gold accounts with the Bank of Canada.
Given that Canada sold nearly all of its own substantial gold holdings a number of years ago, it seems like an anomaly that the Bank of Canada in Ottawa is still holding gold on behalf of other countries. Most countries that had held gold in Ottawa repatriated it long ago.
Citizens of Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden should be concerned that some of their nation’s gold is in custody with a bank that is no longer a specialist in gold custody and that did not even see fit to maintain its own gold reserves. They should also be concerned about the secrecy and lack of transparency regarding their gold.
The upcoming Swiss gold referendum will be very interesting and will highlight and focus minds on why the SNB vigorously defends the need to keep some of its gold reserves in a long forgotten vault in Ottawa.
In the same way that it is important for nations to have outright, unencumbered ownership of their gold, it is vitally important for individuals to do so. GoldCore continue to advise owning allocated and segregated physical coins and bars in Hong Kong, Singapore and Zurich.
by Ronan Manly, GoldCore Consultant. Editor Mark O’Byrne of GoldCore
Sources available on request - info@goldcore.com
MARKET UPDATE
Today’s AM fix was USD 1,288.00, EUR 975.54 and GBP 776.28 ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,285.00, EUR 974.96 and GBP 775.40 per ounce.
Gold fell $0.40 or 0.49% to $1,282.00 and silver rose $0.04 or 0.15% to $19.44 per ounce yesterday.
This morning gold in Singapore ticked higher to $1,285/oz and gold in London has been bid higher to $1,292/oz.
Silver in U.S. Dollars - 2 Years (Thomson Reuters)
Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.4% to $19.53 an ounce. Spot platinum rose 0.8% to $1,422 an ounce. Palladium was unchanged at $891 an ounce - remaining near record 13 year nominal highs.
Gold is now trading above its 200-day moving average of $1284, and the gold price remains relatively strong despite a stronger dollar, rallying equity market indexes, and a relative easing of geopolitical tensions.
The gold/silver ratio is currently 66.10, near its one year high showing silver remaining very good value versus gold.
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-- Published: Thursday, 28 August 2014 | E-Mail | Print | Source: GoldSeek.com
