This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Central Banks' Secrecy & Silence On Gold Storage Arrangements

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Ronan Manly via BullionStar.com,

Whereas some central banks have become more forthcoming on where they claim their official gold reserves are stored (see my recent blog post ‘Central bank gold at the Bank of England‘), many of the world’s central banks remain secretive in this regard, with some central bank staff saying that they are not allowed to provide this information, and some central banks just ignoring the question when asked.

In the ‘Central bank gold at the Bank of England’ article, I said that “A number of central banks refuse to confirm the location of their gold reserves. I will document this in a future posting.” As promised, this blog post explains what I meant by the above statement.

Some of those central banks may have made it into the Bank of England storage list if they had been more transparent in providing gold storage information. However, since they weren’t transparent, these banks make it into the alternative ‘non-cooperative’ list. One subset of this list is central banks, which to be fair to them, did actually respond and said that they cannot divulge gold storage information. The other subset is central banks which didn’t reply at all when I asked them about their official gold storage location details.

The below list, although not complete, highlights 7 central banks and 1 official sector financial institution (the BIS), which, when asked where do they store their gold reserves, responded with various similar phrases saying that they could not provide this information. Between them, these 7 central banks claim to hold 1,500 tonnes of gold. Adding in the BIS which represents another 900 tonnes, in total that’s 2,400 tonnes of gold where the central banks in charge of that gold will not provide any information as to its whereabouts. Much of this 2,400 tonnes is no doubt stored (at least in name) at the FRBNY and the Bank of England, with some stored in the home countries of some of the central banks.

I have included the 8 responses below, but have deleted any references to individuals’ names or email addresses:

Bank of Japan: 765.2 tonnes of gold

Bank of Japan

 

Bank for International Settlements (BIS): > 900 tonnes of gold

  • BIS manages 443 tonnes of gold under custody for central banks
  • BIS owns 108 tonnes of gold itself
  • BIS manages 356 tonnes of gold deposits from central banks
  • BIS has 47 tonnes of gold swaps outstanding

BIS

 

 

Spain: 281.6 tonnes of gold

Banco de Espana

 

 

South Africa: 125.2 tonnes of gold

SARB

 

 

Thailand: 152.4 tonnes of gold

Bank of Thailand

 

 

Singapore: 127.4 tonnes of gold

Monetary Authority of Singapore

 

 

Malaysia: 37.9 tonnes of gold

Bank Negara Malaysia

 

 

Paraguay: 8.2 tonnes of gold

Banco Central Paraguay

…which translates into English as …..”That information is classified and cannot be disclosed. I hope you understand“.

 

‘No Answer’ central banks

I also emailed some central banks which didn’t respond to the question, ‘where are your gold reserves stored?’. They may not have responded for various reasons, including the emails may not have reached the relevant people who would normally be responsible for such matters. These banks account for another 500+ tonnes of gold reserves. Again, some of this gold is probably at the Bank of England, such as, some of Jordan’s and Kuwait’s gold, due to historical ties with the Bank of England.

  • Banque du Liban (Lebanon): 286.8 tonnes  (said to be in Lebanon and FRB New York)
  • National Bank of Kazakhstan: 208.1 tonnes
  • Central Bank of Kuwait: 79 tonnes
  • Central Bank of Jordan: 34.2 tonnes
  • Bank Al-Maghrib (Morocco): 22.1 tonnes
  • National Bank of Cambodia: 12.4 tonnes

BIS – Transparency in name only

The following slide, from a 2007 Bank for International Settlements presentation, shows how ridiculous the claims of central banks are when they use the meme that they are transparent and accountable, when in fact, they are nothing of the sort.

The BIS’ response above on the gold storage question, i.e. “the information that you have requested is not made publicly available” makes a mockery of its own claims in the below slide that central banks are required to be transparent and accountable.

The only ‘gold’ that the BIS is willing to discuss is its pie-in-the-sky corporate-speak ‘Golden Triangle’ of central bank Autonomy complimented by Transparency and Accountability when it states:

 – TRANSPARENCY – important for holding central bank to account

- ACCOUNTABILITY – crucial counterpart of autonomy in an open society, makes transparency more credible

 (I added the 2 red arrows to the slide to highlight these points)

BIS transparency

 

Conclusion: Finland’s change of heart

The fact that staff of some central banks won’t discuss that bank’s gold storage arrangements is no doubt an internal rule, or a storage depository rule, or some such nonsense. The nonsensical nature of their non-cooperation and evasion is highlighted by the below about-turn from the Bank of Finland, when in January 2013 it childishly told me that “We are not allowed to tell the exact depository, town or country“, and then 9 months later in October 2013, the powers-that-be at the gold depositories gave the go-ahead, for the Bank of Finland then spilled the beans, squealing that its gold was stored at a cornucopia of the usual suspects, namely, the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Swiss National Bank, and smaller amounts at the Swedish Riksbank and the Bank of Finland.

Given that the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Swiss National Bank all agreed to the Bank of Finland’s request in 2013 to publish the individual storage locations of its gold, and given that the vaults of these 3 banks store the vast majority of internationally stored central bank gold, therefore it also makes a mockery of central banks which persists in claiming that they cannot divulge information on the storage of their own gold, which in most cases is supposedly spread between the very same 3 sets of vaults.

And after the Bank of Finland press release, which most Finns and most of the world probably didn’t even see, Helsinki and the world continued about its business as before. The point being that the storage locations of central banks’ gold reserves is not that big of a deal. Its only the central banks that make it into a big deal with their secrecy….unless of course, they are hiding something bigger, and the gold is not even where its supposed to be.

Bank of Finland – 31 January 2013

Bank of Finland January 2013

 

Bank of Finland – 25 October 2013

Bank of Finland

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:29 | 6623422 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Sorry, but we cannot comment upon the ongoing rererererehypothecation.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:35 | 6623444 BlueViolet
BlueViolet's picture

Or the fact that it was all stolen.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:56 | 6623488 negative rates
negative rates's picture

There's nothing like spending half your life just covering up.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 21:57 | 6623649 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Central banks haven't caught on to the "bottom of a lake" meme. Bet they don't say "bitchez," either.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 00:55 | 6623991 r00t61
r00t61's picture

Who will enact your "magical" Social Credit scheme?

The same government that sold the creation of the money supply to private banksters?

Additionally, how many goons with badges and guns will be needed to enforce it?

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 08:05 | 6624319 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

all excellent questions but the unmasking of the goldless banker is a useful part of the parable.  imo, social credit, like keynesian economics (as keynes proposed it, not as it has been done since richard "we're all keynesians now" nixon), is something that might well work in a world of perfect creatures.

but man is clearly a fallen animal (and judging by bush and obama, he's still in flight).  these powers will be abused, as you note.  better an imperfect system that actually works than a perfect one that doesn't.

however i would be at least as content with the bleeding fiat as a medium of exchange and gold/silver in an honest market (oh no, fallen creatures again) as a store of wealth.

must all the policiemen (or at least their bosses) be corrupt always and everwhere?  have we sunk so low?

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 12:26 | 6625151 Booked
Booked's picture

It would seem wishing to finance your life by directing others at the point of a gun, rather than by the voluntary acceptance of your presence by others would identify a corrupt personality.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 02:04 | 6624059 giovanni_f
giovanni_f's picture

I like the CB of Malaysia's answer: "What you need is on our web page. What is not on our web page, you don't need".

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:37 | 6623445 herkomilchen
herkomilchen's picture

Is that like pulling out after you push in after you pull out after you push in?

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 23:18 | 6623831 sgorem
sgorem's picture

sorry, all my gold and silver was lost when my canoe capsized over the Mariana Trench some days or years back, or was it my john boat? needless to say, i'm very distressed over my boating skills. now all i have is like $55.00 in a plastic baggy under my ice trays in the freezer so no one knows where it's at;)

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 08:52 | 6624383 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

All of mine fell off the back of the pickup truck driving thru the hood. I guess it's all Bling now.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:16 | 6623389 MASTER OF UNIVERSE
MASTER OF UNIVERSE's picture

We have ways to make you talk, America.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 11:04 | 6624809 AE911Truth
AE911Truth's picture

Found it!

It is in TVM-LSM-666.

Who owns it? We do.

The folks who stole it are in receivership.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/khudes/scan0013.pdf

 

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 17:08 | 6626193 fancyfree
fancyfree's picture

Thanks for the mention.  I would just like to add that the BIS is lying whenever it claims that it holds the international monetary gold reserves of the nations.  This notarial protest already established the fact that the international monetary gold reserves are held in the Global Debt Facility that is administered by the Board of Governors of the World Bank and IMF: https://s3.amazonaws.com/khudes/notarialprotest.pdf

The Fed moved to Chicago after the Secretary of State of Illinois, Jesse White, tried without any authority to invalidate the UCC-1 Financing Statement that the Global Debt Facility filed against the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  The Board of Governors of the World Bank and IMF cleared the letter to Jesse White informing him that the UCC1 Financing Statement filed by the Global Debt Facility in Chicago remains valid.  https://s3.amazonaws.com/khudes/Alternative+to+WWIII.pdf  (see page 8)

 Jesse White is included in the commercial lien that AE911Truth has posted above in their comment.  As for any theft of the international monetary gold reserves, the Board of Governors of the World Bank and IMF thwarted the last four unsuccessful attempts by the Network of Global Corporate Control to steal this gold.  

https://s3.amazonaws.com/khudes/Twitter7.18.15.1.pdf

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:21 | 6623404 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Yeah. I always tell whothefuckeverwantstoknow where all of my gold is.........

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:24 | 6623410 knukles
knukles's picture

I just want my money back from the manipulations.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:41 | 6623465 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Your share of the multi quadrillion $ gold rigging settlement works out to approximately $6.79. Those Lawyers are expensive you know......

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:58 | 6623494 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Yeah, and I aint afraid of no ghosts either.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:34 | 6623440 herkomilchen
herkomilchen's picture

But, but, they are just kind-hearted public servants representing the people who have a right to know.  You see, the gold belongs to the people. /s

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:28 | 6623418 Latitude25
Latitude25's picture

This is my favorite

Malaysia:  The sad information is not meant for public viewing reference

Take note USA

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:29 | 6623419 Phoenix901210
Phoenix901210's picture

Well, I have read reliable intel, that I'm sure will be repeated elsewhere from where I read it. That the people behind the banks have been using gold for trade (since China does not accept fiat) and various other things in relation to their agendas.

And they ran out quite some time ago. Japan gave up theirs after the nuclear bomb/ tsunami.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:29 | 6623421 Ajax_USB_Port_R...
Ajax_USB_Port_Repair_Service_'s picture

The point of this article is what?

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:37 | 6623453 Likstane
Likstane's picture

You don't hold it, you don't own it ?

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 22:15 | 6623696 83_vf_1100_c
83_vf_1100_c's picture

  They should say what we say. Bottom of of a lake somewhere. Transportation by barge gone wrong.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:34 | 6623439 CHoward
CHoward's picture

I may be tired but I don't understand this entire article.  Sorry.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 00:34 | 6623965 Troy Ounce
Troy Ounce's picture

 

Keynesian smoke & mirrors

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 02:16 | 6624065 Lanka
Lanka's picture

Bend over and gain some understanding.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:37 | 6623451 Proofreder
Proofreder's picture

Gold is where you find it.

Always been this way.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:41 | 6623462 stant
stant's picture

Ive posted this on zh before , but I still see that amc show about ft Knox and all the armour there . Fact is they closed the tank school. And no armour division are stationed there anymore. Only tanks there are at the Patton museum.just administrative stuff mostly , paper work of soldiers whos enlistments up etc

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:41 | 6623468 donkeyhaute
donkeyhaute's picture

USA quoted gold holdings are under 100000 tons of earth.... still in the nevada desert mines.  stolen by the EPA and offered (and forfeited) as collateral long ago to the chinese.

but maybe i'm off base.
and maybe harry reid just fell off his treadmill.

 

 

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 08:50 | 6624379 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Harry, the solar panel project will give us cover to get the gold.
Sounds OK to me, Wo Fat.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 20:43 | 6623470 OC Sure
OC Sure's picture

This reminds me of a horse race. Bets, anyone?

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 21:18 | 6623536 Ness.
Ness.'s picture

It's in the banana stand.  There's ALWAYS money in the banana stand.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 21:30 | 6623575 thinkmoretalkless
thinkmoretalkless's picture

Well they couldn't answer China could they

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 21:34 | 6623586 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 Not enough XAU contracts have been written yet?

 Something Just Snapped At The Comex (Updated) | Zero Hedge

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 21:35 | 6623590 NOTfromSanFrancisco
NOTfromSanFrancisco's picture

 

 

Smart-"Would you believe I have 100 tons of gold stored at a top secret, heavily guarded vault located in a mountain vault surrounded by dozens of land mines?..."

"No Mr. Smart. I find that hard to believe."

Smart-"Would you believe I have a ton of gold hidden in my garage with my faithful pitbulls, Fang and Fong, watching over it?..."

"No Mr. Smart. I don't believe that either."

Smart-"Would you believe I have a pound of gold hidden in a shoe box, underneath my bed, covered up and hidden by my dirty underwear?..."

"Sorry Mr. Smart. No go."

Smart-"How about, I'm wearing a gold wristwatch that I took off of a KAOS agent when we fought to the death for the last pig sticker at Panda Express?..."

"No."

Smart-"Well then, how about if I told you I own 1,000 shares of GLD and I will be a millionaire when the price of gold hits $10,000 an ounce?.."

"Now that I believe, except the part about you becomming a millionaire. Good luck with that."

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 22:05 | 6623665 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

"Missed it by that much."

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 21:40 | 6623606 Usura
Usura's picture

I have 100 tonnes of gold in my garage that I would like to hypothecate a couple of times before pledging as collateral for a Chinese bank loan.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 23:17 | 6623828 Conax
Conax's picture

Oh man, I just invented my own new business. I get an ounce of gold, see, and then I sell it to some chump and tell him it's in a secure facility if he ever wants it. Then I sell it to more chumps, as many as I can possibly find.  I'm securing it for them, see?  There's a small fee that each chump must pay.

If anyone needs the ounce, they just call and I'll arrange for one, but charge them a hefty fee to transfer it. They should also bring professional security with them to pick it up, and they must have an appointment.

Every month the gold gets cheaper, I make that much more.

Dang, I'll be richer than Jed Clampett.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 07:58 | 6624316 booboo
booboo's picture

That's fraud in Realville.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 08:17 | 6624333 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

or fractional reserve banking, metaphorically (and historicallly).

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 08:47 | 6624376 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

I think the Red Shield beat you to that about 300 years ago.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 23:41 | 6623863 Aquarius
Aquarius's picture

The future of Australia looks bleak as its “leaders”take their orders from the USA and Israel and the UK, the largest Power led destruction Cults of the World and as they prepare for another “leadership”challenge from the femme fatale, the total incompetence of management is almost complete.

However, it is more likely that after the coming Global Leadership Collapse (GLC) which will bring great pain for many, that Western Australia is geographically and with commoditiies of demand – copper and iron ore, well placed for an immediate recovery.

The World's future lies along the UT +8 hours time line from Vladivostok to Perth. China is and will continue to build the global high speed train infrastructure systems and will source materials from Perth (and elsewhere). Financial services will be delivered from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore replacing the USA and the UK . Air travel will be severly reduced. This is the 100+ year infrastructure project that had to happen. Air travel today, unless you have your own jet, is nothing more than the slaver ships of the 17th Century, inhumane and pure torture.

Australia's Eastern states will wither on the vine and enter long term depression and industry will demand a strong competent leadership for Western Australia, exactly opposite from the eagerly corrupted self-serving drunks and incompetents of today.

The USA is in a state of maximum contraction or, IOW it has reached Maximum Entropy and is / has alienated the rest of the World with its destruction and hypocracy exports. It is over and its TBTF crime syndicates will disband and the skills will move into Asia.

http://verbewarp.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/to-be-or-not-to-be.html

Asian are entering Australia now through immigration en masse, which is great as the food standards have increased exponentially. And they bring their own money. The White Race will become a minority in just another generation and humanity will enter a Epoch of Prosperity, Civility and Peace for a change.

So for Australia, the future looks great and secure; just need to endure the pain of being pioneers for a few short years, bUt most of the orignal folks were brought here in chains, their superior 'of the wild' genes will supply this with courage and without hesitation; so not a problem, mite.

Whatever, getting rid of the shackles of slavery; that is, our jailors of our state of Stockholm Syndrome, called “leadership” - we will lift our heads and hearts so to meet the future challenges with great delight; our Providence and Destiny, at last. Then Australia will end being an over-taxed slave colony and playground for naughty schoolboys and be able to mature as a Society. Just give us time to put out the garbage...

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 08:45 | 6624374 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

*sigh* If only our leaders would watch "Pinky and the Brain," they would understand the 'rule the world' plans never work out.

***

For those of us with a Faith Belief, Satan holds the Title, so he ain't giving it up until Christ returns and gives him the written Notice signed by the Higher Power.

Fri, 10/02/2015 - 23:56 | 6623905 silverlining
silverlining's picture

Who would tell you where they store their pet rocks? What answer is the author of this article expecting?

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 00:41 | 6623979 Troy Ounce
Troy Ounce's picture

 

Full disclosure

Transparency

Accountability

If not: sorry, we can't be trusted.

(Trust is the nasty word they desperately need)

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 08:18 | 6624336 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

the finns told him.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 01:45 | 6624046 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 Okay. I've shorted corporate debt. Now I'm going Mortgage Backed Securities.

 I told you guys, my next target was MBS.

 The bottom feeders can have the 20%

 

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 02:56 | 6624096 aleph0
aleph0's picture

Ukraine and Libya ?
... NOT in the list ?

Ukraine ... midnight dissappearance of 30T to a "safe place"
Libya ... old CB had no debt & 100T+ of Gold ... 1 year later the NEW (Western)  CB declared BK

We are conditioned to accept that the Central Banking Crimes are "Normal".

Just BTW .... did Iraq have any Gold , before the West destroyed the country  ?
I know they got containers full of paper USDs ... was that some some sort of CB deal ?

 

 

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 09:44 | 6624342 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

that certainly makes one wonder how much gold the u.s. could possibly have if they are that concerned to rifle the property of their newly conquered minions.  i think paul craig roberts is right.  they didn't pay germany because they couldn't (and because germany is so bought, and so cowed, particularly by israel).

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 08:41 | 6624365 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Well, Jack?
Janet, we'll have to steal some moar gold. We already had and stole enough for about 70% of our depositors.
Well, that's not so bad.
yes, it is, that 70% are the small depositors.
Oy vey! Call the Frenchies and tell them to rip that mine apart in Mali.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 09:09 | 6624424 Faeriedust
Faeriedust's picture

Given that this game has been well-played-out dozens of times in history, it is fairly safe to conclude that for at least 50% of the non-disclosers, the gold reserves stated are highly inflated or the reserves are in someway compromised (counterfeit, lost, stolen, re-hypothecated to deadbeats who may or may not return the swap).  We know this because this is what has been done with EVERY gold reserve for fractional-reserve banking going back to before the Bank of England was founded.  The gold is NEVER there when it comes time to make redemptions.

If insanity is doing the same thing time after time and expecting a different result, humanity is and always has been insane.

 

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 09:11 | 6624434 CHX
CHX's picture

Reminds me of BOs "most transparent administration ever"... 

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 09:22 | 6624462 Anopheles
Anopheles's picture

The article is complete BS.  Trying to frame it as if it's a conspiracy.  It's just security. 

Tell me ZHers, how many of you would publicly disclose where YOU keep your gold?  If you don't, is it a conspiracy?  

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 09:54 | 6624540 jeff montanye
jeff montanye's picture

the finns did.

it's not like saying x in the bank of england, y in the fed in new york, z in zurich and xx in our own central vault is the same as saying under the stereo in the box labelled photos. now is it, non-zher? did you know your name means useless in greek? and take your bad air with you.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 11:37 | 6624946 Not My Real Name
Not My Real Name's picture

Anopholes is also the name of one of the Earth's biggest parasites.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 09:41 | 6624505 VW Nerd
VW Nerd's picture

Would you divulge the amounts or location of your gold??  I'd probably reply that it was all lost in an unfortunate incident.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 09:43 | 6624512 ghostzapper
ghostzapper's picture

(Cue the lectures on how stupid I am)

Is gold even scarce?

How much gold already exists above ground?

Are China and Russia grabbing phyzz in part to play keep away from the Banksters by reducing theft targets?

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 09:53 | 6624544 aqualech
aqualech's picture

I understand the meaning of the article.  All these minor Central Banks have some gold reserves in order to give some faith in or validity to their issued currencies......even though the currency is not redeemable for gold.....something like "tradition".   But, they have not actually been allowed to control that gold for decades.

Instead, the bullying CBOE and FED have held the gold.  Except, that gold has obviously been loaned out or otherwise sold off and the profits taken by the CDOE or FED member institutions.  Do they believe that they can retrieve those tons if they ever need to?  Maybe, but they probably believe that they will have the bullying power to deny any requests for transfer indefinitely.  Hello, Germany.

So the article is about how corrupt the CBOE and FED member institutions are, protected by their mantle of faux official governmental status.  And about how there is actually a severe shortage of phys should those institutions ever be required to cough up some of the held gold.

Reminds me of when I let the neighbor hold onto that gram of coke until Friday night so that I wouldn't snort it on Wednesday.

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 11:26 | 6624915 messymerry
messymerry's picture

Easy peasy, they're storing it in China...

;-D   

Sat, 10/03/2015 - 14:23 | 6625572 Cherubim
Cherubim's picture

Gold prices to go up 15% from here.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!