Gold Transfer Looks Strange

Monty Pelerin * EconomicNoise.com

Germany is recalling much of its gold. For many years, Germany stored its gold outside the country. The Federal Reserve was the largest custodian with London ranking second.

Germany now sees the need to hold a large portion of its gold domestically so they are transferring gold from overseas back home. Is this something that could drive up gold prices? Julian Phillips speculates on this issue and the long-standing rumor that Central Banks don’t have the gold, at least unencumbered:

We noted that it is going to take 7 years or 10 shipments a year to move it to Germany. This is odd because it can be done much faster. Are they allowing the banks from which it is being drawn to pull it back from those to whom it has been leased? If this is the case and they have to go out and buy the gold to supply Germany with, will we see the three central banks [the Fed, the Bank of England and the Banque de France] enter the open gold market as buyers of the gold they can’t access in that time or has seven years been decided on because this matches the maturation of the leases?

The seven-year transition seems strange as Mr. Phillips points out. Whether Germany’s request and Central Banks’ responses will re-start the upward movement in gold remains to be seen.

http://www.economicnoise.com/2013/01/29/gold-transfer-looks-strange/