The Dutch central bank has moved a quarter of the gold it held in North America to London, and it has given an unusually blunt reason for doing so -- increasing geopolitical unrest. De Nederlandsche Bank, or DNB, says the operation will make its reserves easier to deploy if a crisis strikes. The bank has not said what crisis it is preparing for, but central banks do not normally invoke geopolitical risk when making routine changes to the custody of their reserves. Of course, DNB may not be predicting an imminent war or suggesting that the US will seize Dutch gold. Nevertheless, it has said the step is aimed at crisis preparedness. Central banks are becoming less willing to assume that current geopolitical and financial arrangements can withstand the next crisis.
The Dutch gold move
