Germany plans to repatriate billions in gold from New York, Paris: report

[Newsjock]

Source: The Globe and Mail

Germany’s central bank is said to be planning to repatriate thousands of tonnes of gold held at other central banks in a throwback to the Cold War.

The Bundesbank has scheduled a news conference for tomorrow, but there are no details, other than that the meeting with reporters will be about its gold reserves.

But Handelsblatt, a daily German paper, reported that the central bank will bring home some of the 1,500 tons held at the Federal Reserve in New York and more at the Bank of Paris.

... “This move by the Bundesbank may trigger a chain reaction, prompting other countries to start repatriating the gold stored in London, New York or Paris,” said the Montreal-based Centre for Research on Globalization.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/germany-plans-to-repatriate-billions-in-gold-from-new-york-paris-report/article7360909/

[dkf]

1. I wonder what that is all about.

[Dont call me Shirley]

3. Doesn't sound good whatever it is!

[Yo_Mama]

25. Trillion dollar platinum coins with a penny's worth of metal in them?

I don't think most people understood that we were yelling "We're going to be Argentina" to the world. It makes people nervous. Losses.

They probably want the gold back while they can still get it. If your political figures publicly talk about busting your OWN central bank, there will be consequences.

[dkf]

26. Hmm...yeah that sort of thing does not get us a vote of confidence.

[dipsydoodle]

2. $200 billions worth.

Lots of links up now.

[valerief]

11. Sounds like a couple month's of our WARS. nt

[Iggo]

4. How much you wanna bet it ain't there?

[olddad56]

5. I'm thinking that the Bush Crime family got their hands on that long ago. Just a hunch

[Iggo]

6. I just seen too many "caper" movies.

Last edited Tue Jan 15, 2013, 06:05 PM - Edit history (1)

I bet they did this one already and Michael Caine was in it.

[dipsydoodle]

8. Thats the reason for repatriation

To make sure its physical.

[rhett o rick]

14. Wonder if they will accept a platinum coin instead. nm

[hughee99]

18. I'm sure they would, if the amount of platinum in it

was equal to the amount of gold they have. That would have to be one big-ass coin, though.

[rhett o rick]

19. Not what I meant. They are currently talking about minting a $1 trillion dollar platinum coin to

bypass the debt ceiling. I am suggesting we mint some $10 billion dollar coins and give them a few of those. Backed by the good-ole USofA of course.

[hughee99]

27. I figured. I was just being a wise ass.

I think they're not interested in money backed by "our word".

[rhett o rick]

29. What? Why are word is our bond. Oh, wait, I bet they are pissed because we tried to sell

the world about the WMD in Iraq. Jeeze cant they take a joke. Gen Powell had such a good delivery.

Sorry I missed your subtlety.

[Ghost Dog]

34. Hah!

... The end of the leadership of traditional powers will bring about global chaos in 2013, with the “world after” beginning to emerge.

It will be a somber year for the United States, as it loses its status as the sole superpower and finds itself unable to influence the construction of a new global governance. For if all players are desperately seeking a way to gain the upper hand in the game, only those countries and regions prepared for the shockwaves can even hope to influence the emergence of the “world after.” Alliances of any kind (CELAC, UNASUR, MERCOSUR, ALBA, CAN, ALADI, NAFTA, OAS, AU, NEPAD, SADC, COMESA, ECOWAS, UEMOA, CEMAC, the Arab League, EU, EFTA, ASEAN, APT, EAC, BRICS, CASSH, Eurasian Union, etc.) all reflect such attempts, but they are all more or less advanced, more or less homogenous, and more or less resistant to the coming storm.

Euroland, born in the crisis and strengthening with each wave like a tidal power plant, Asia, and South America are better equipped to become the big winners in the “reshuffled” world, while the old powers, like the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, etc., are failing to adapt to the multi-polar, post-crisis world and find themselves utterly destitute. There is an extraordinary open world game afoot, one providing numerous opportunities to those willing to seize them. This is evident in the Middle East, where populations are taking the opportunity to change the region in accordance with their aspirations; in the BRICS, where their advancing pawns approach declining powers; and in Europe, where each attack by the crisis creates the energy to adapt to the challenges of tomorrow.

The economic situation (recession) and geopolitics (major tensions in the Middle East, but also in Asia (1), etc.) make 2013 a difficult and dangerous period, with mishaps likely, making stable regions that benefit from this state of affairs more attractive by comparison. Everything is relative, of course, but global violence in 2013 figures to make Euroland one of the few havens of peace, stability, and comfort… and for investors it will be one of the few regions offering some visibility for the future (2). This will create a powerful engine for exiting the European crisis in 2013...

/... http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-70-is-available-2013-the-first-steps-in-a-chaotic-world-after_a12826.html

[olddad56]

20. funny

they could even keep the change

[rhett o rick]

21. Or open it and eat the chocolate.

[zonkers]

28. Whoa.

[november3rd]

7. Pirates

I hope that ship doesn't go down in the Atlantic somewhere.

I don't want to have to watch all those tv specials on recovering the gold from Davy Jones's Locker.

[awoke_in_2003]

30. Somalis probably can't make it...

that far north.

[DFW]

9. Much ado about nothing

At the NY Fed as well as at the Banque de France (Bank of France, not Bank of Paris), each country's gold is clearly stored apart and labeled as property of the country of ownership. Repatriating it physically will relieve a burden of storage and insurance for the host country, but will in no way constitute a withdrawal or depletion. It's only a strategic move if Germany fears confiscation by the USA or France, and they don't. Therefore, it's a PR move. Fine. It's like moving your checking account from Des Moines to Omaha because you want your bank account consolidated and closer to home.

I've worked with Central Banks before, and have specifically worked with them on physical gold repatriation. This is just for show. As far as wealth distribution goes, it's a non-event.

[eallen]

15. Yep.

[freshwest]

16. Thanks for being our man on the spot there, DFW. The USA lives on hysteria these days.

If only flights of fancy could float zeppelins...

[triplepoint]

10. Wasn't That Stuff in the WTC's Basement on 9/11?

That's what I read and heard back then. I wonder if what they'll actually take delivery of is actually real gold. 1500 tons of Gold is quite a bit to assay...If it's not there, maybe the Germans should start looking at the bush CRIME family's Paraguay compound...I'm sure kenny boy lay could assist them there...

Here's a story from last year (October 30, 2012) on this:
For decades, almost half of Germany's gold has been stored deep below the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Now, with the euro crisis swirling, German politicians are asking their central bankers to take stock of the reserves. Some even say that the gold should be shipped home. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann wanted to personally convince Peter Gauweiler that the German gold was still where it should be. Early this summer, the head of Germany's central bank took the obstinate politician from the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), a party that is a member of the government coalition in Berlin, and a number of his colleagues into the Bundesbank's inner sanctum: the gold vault. There, 6,000 gold bars are stacked on industrial-strength shelves in a purpose-built building in Frankfurt. An additional 76,000 bars of bullion are stored in four safe boxes, in sealed containers.

Reference Link:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-politicians-demand-to-see-gold-in-us-federal-reserve-a-864068.html
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.
.

.
.
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[hack89]

13. It was in WTC 4

The $230 million in precious metals has been moved from the basement vaults of ScotiaMocatta Depository at 4 WTC, where it was stored on behalf of the New York Mercantile Exchange when the September 11 attacks brought down the twin towers. All warehouse staff got out safely.

In a joint statement Friday, NYBOT and ScotiaMocatta, the metals trading division of Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia, said the metals had been relocated and were again available to guaranty delivery of futures contracts exchange traded at the COMEX metals division of the NYMEX.

"All of the silver, gold, platinum, and palladium stored in its vaults at 4 World Trade Center have been successfully relocated by an Exchange-approved carrier to a newly Exchange-licensed Brink's Inc depository in Brooklyn," they said.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2001/nov/17wtc.htm

[MindMover]

12. Possession is 9/10s of the law ...

[JBoy]

17. Kelly's Heroes, in reverse

[Purveyor]

22. “We do not have the slightest doubt that our holdings...are also made up of the purest fine gold,”

This does seem to be a concern...

[NCthraxman]

23. Tungsten

No problem.
We'll just ship them some of that gold plated Tungsten that we shipped to the Chinese.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Do the Swiss or Japanese hold gold for anyone else?

If the idea of "have the gold where it could be converted quickly to actual currency" is true, then that would explain taking all the Bank of Paris gold back - they have the same currency. And if they watned to rebalance the holdings, they might take some from the US, and store it in other countries with stable currencies - like Switerland or Japan.

[dipsydoodle]

31. The impression I got yesterday was that the bank bowed to public pressure

From today this confirms that too :

MADRID (MarketWatch) — Goodbye, Big Apple. Adieu, Paris. It seems the Bundesbank could finally be ready to bow to some longstanding public pressure and bring its foreign gold reserves home.

Germany’s Handeslblatt newspaper claimed Monday night that the Bundesbank has developed a new strategy that involves fewer gold bars flung afar. The original reason for holding its gold at the New York Federal Reserve and other central banks — in places for decade as a measure of security — no longer holds, the newspaper said.

The central bank’s press office said a news conference is planned for Wednesday morning, and the topic will be gold reserves. See the full story in Handelsblatt (needs translation).

http://articles.marketwatch.com/2013-01-15/markets/36347288_1_gold-reserves-gold-holdings-central-banks

and here :

The move follows a damning report by the German Court of Auditors criticizing the management of Bundesbank’s foreign bullion stockpiles. Auditors said that the stores “had never been verified physically,” and were not under proper control.

Bundesbank was taken aback by the criticism, stressing there was no need for speculation on Germany’s overseas holdings and that "there is no doubt about the integrity of the foreign storage sites." The central bank is widely regarded as one of the most trustworthy institutions in German society.

http://rt.com/news/germany-reclaims-gold-us-094/

[lunatica]

32. He who controls the spice controls the universe.

Frank Herbert would say that the country who has the spice (gold) controls the universe. Germany just wants to have the spice in country because it doesn't want it's fate controlled by the countries where its gold resides.

That was my first thought.

Why should any country trust us anymore if the GOP are willing to destroy our financial standing and our economy by refusing to raise the debt ceiling? It's not just Americans being held hostage. It's everyone in the world. And for what? Racist power struggles. Because, above everything else, including their own interests the GOP wants to WIN.

[Blandocyte]

33. Physical proximity and the idea of control

seem to go together. They are welcoming their new old golden overlords.

[Franker65]

35. The United States is still far ahead in terms of gold stocks

But Germany isn't far behind. Statistics show that Germany has 3,391 metric tons of gold. I'm not surprised at the repatriation given the uncertainty in the world's financial markets.