German gold repatriation continued in 2014 at a higher pace – but the overall slow speed leaves many questions unanswered and again raises arguments for auditing the Fed. Be careful what you wish for.
Germany’s Bundesbank has made great play of the fact that it managed to repatriate some 85 tonnes of gold from New York in 2014 and 35 tonnes from Paris. Technically, as the Bundesbank points out this is very much on schedule with its promise to bring back into German vaults some 300 tonnes held in New York and 374 tonnes from France by 2020 – but still the question has to be asked: why is the agreed schedule so slow? If Germany truly wants its gold back why would it have to take so long to achieve this?
One assumes the French portion could be just loaded onto a few trucks and shipped cross border, while the U.S. part likewise flown across the Atlantic on a few 747 freighters.
It’s almost certain that the song and dance the Bundesbank is making about the latest repatriation figures is as a direct result of the media furor over the minuscule amounts repatriated in 2013 – only 5 tonnes from New York and 32 tonnes from Paris. That was true fodder for the theorists who, abound in the gold sector, seriously believe that the amounts of gold held in many of the big Central Bank vaults – notably those in the U.S., the U.K. and France – have been leased out and title to any that is remaining may belong elsewhere.
Thus the Bundesbank again, has also emphasised in its statement the provenance of the gold returned. Mark O’Byrne’s www.Goldcore.com website reported this statement thus: “The Bundesbank assures the identity and authenticity of German gold reserves throughout the transfer process – from when they are removed from warehouses abroad until they are stored in Frankfurt am Main.
As soon as the gold was removed from the warehouse locations abroad, Bundesbank employees cross-checked the lists of bars belonging to the Bundesbank against the information on the bars removed. Finally, once they arrived in Frankfurt and Main, all the transferred gold bars were thoroughly and exhaustively inspected and verified by the Bundesbank. When all the inspections had been concluded, no irregularities came to light with regard to the authenticity, fineness and weight of the bars.”
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