Gold repatriation

Gold is a political metal. “Whoever has the gold makes the rules,” as the saying goes. Because gold serves as the backstop of the international financial system, the global distribution of gold influences the balance of power. This is true for gold ownership, but it also applies to storage locations. The more of its gold reserves Germany stores at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the more leverage the U.S. has over Germany.

As global central banks’ balance sheets are exploding, with disastrous consequences, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) stands out as the “biggest hedge fund” and speculator in the world. Its balance sheet is over $1 trillion or 136% of Swiss GDP. The Fed balance sheet is 35% of US GDP.

A British appeals court ruled in favor of the Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro, and said the legal fight over the future of $1 billion in gold stored in the vaults of the Bank of England should be reconsidered.

Venezuela’s gold reserves fell by seven tonnes in the first half of the year to reach just 98 tonnes, their lowest level in 50 years, according to data published on Monday by the South American country’s central bank.

Venezuela has launched legal proceedings to try to force the Bank of England to hand over $1 billion worth of gold, claiming it needs the money to fund an appropriate response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In this insightful interview, Max Keiser and Egon von Greyerz talk about the 2010s as a decade of fantasy and decadence. The Dow/Gold ratio has now turned down and will crash 95% according to Egon. That takes the ratio back to a 1 to 1 level where it was in 1980 when the Dow was 850 and gold was $850 per ounce. So we will now see a crash in stocks and a surge in gold.

Slovakia’s former premier said parliament should force the central bank to bring back the nation’s gold stored in the U.K. as history has shown that allies “can hardly” be trusted.

Poland brought about 100 tons of gold home from the Bank of England in a bid to demonstrate the strength of nation’s $586 billion economy, central bank Governor Adam Glapinski said.

An article published by the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), or Dutch Central Bank, has shocked many with its claim that "if the system collapses, the gold stock can serve as a basis to build it up again. Gold bolsters confidence in the stability of the central bank's balance sheet and creates a sense of security."

National Bank of Poland (NBP) gold reserves have risen by 125.7 tonnes to 228.6 tonnes, the bank announced on Friday.