Germany/Gold reserves

Germany/Gold reserves

In October 2012, the German court of auditors (Bundesrechnungshof) demanded that the Bundesbank undertake an audit of its gold reserves. As part of the process that this initiated, the German Bundesbank announced its intention to repatriate a substantial proportion of the country's physical gold bullion holdings then currently stored under custodianship agreements in the USA, UK and France.

Reporting on the issue, a Google translation of Spiegel Online said:

Germany has the second largest gold reserves in the world, nearly 3400 tons. Supposedly, anyway. Because stocks have never been checked for authenticity and weight. Now, the Federal Court has asked the Bundesbank to examine the gold reserves abroad regularly.

The German central bank gold is safely stored in vaults in Frankfurt, New York, Paris and London. Checked really but apparently no one. The Federal Court has the Bundesbank now anyway required regular inspection and inventory of the vast gold reserves abroad. The auditors explain this in a report on Monday has become known to the budget committee of the Bundestag with the "high value of gold holdings."

The samples stored at other German banks stocks were also never by the Bundesbank itself or by other independent auditors "added physically and for authenticity and weight" checked. Actually talk on the subject numerous theories - so should the U.S. gold reserves at Fort Knox have long been looted.

The Bundesbank has on the USA's second largest gold reserves in the world. End of 2011 there were 3396 tons, worth 133 billion euros. After the soaring price of gold is likely to reach about 142 billion euros currently even. Secures the gold bars by the Bundesbank in own vaults in Frankfurt as well as at three bearing points abroad: The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in New York, Bank of France in Paris and the Bank of England in London.

The Court had determined the order of the Bundestag that the Federal Bank reviews its overseas gold reserves stored exactly. It is disputed whether the Bundesbank experienced for years practice sufficient to rely only on a written confirmation to the gold bars by the foreign central banks.

The Court recommends that the Bundesbank to negotiate with the three foreign central banks the right to physical verification of stocks. With the implementation of this recommendation, the Bundesbank has begun according to the report. They also decided to bring in the next three years to 50 tons each of the past at the Fed in New York gold to Germany to get it here to undergo a thorough examination. In the report, several points are blackened. In effect, the paper is not clear exactly how much gold is in which foreign central bank.

The information held in the Federal Bank headquarters holdings consist of 82,857 according to the report bullion stored mostly in sealed containers with 50 bars, which are kept in four separate locked safe boxes. Part of it (6183 bar) stored on open shelves, therefore in a separate vault - the so-called gold chamber. To secure the gold it says in the report: "The vault closure is double, the inner seals and the gold chamber under a triple lock."

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