Here’s an English translation of yesterday’s report in Handelsblatt about the Bundesbank’s plan to retrieve German gold vaulted abroad, and a response by Peter Boehringer, founder of the German „Repatriate Our Gold“ campaign. UPDATE: A comment by legendary Jim Sinclair.
By Chris Powell
The following dispatch was posted originally at the web site of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) here.
Below are, first, an English translation by the German financial journalist Lars Schall of yesterday’s report in Handelsblatt about the Bundesbank’s plan to retrieve German gold vaulted abroad, and, second, a response by Peter Boehringer, founder of the German „Repatriate Our Gold“ campaign.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
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Bundesbank Wants to Bring German Gold Back
From Handelsblatt, Dusseldorf
Monday, January 14, 2013
The Bundesbank has worked out a new concept by which it wants to store its gold reserves in the future. According to information of the Handelsblatt (Tuesday edition), this concept, which will be announced Wednesday, intends to strengthen the domestic locations and store less gold in New York and even to store no gold at all in Paris.
The central bank thereby reacts to a report of the Federal Court of Audit, which surveys the financial statements of the Bundesbank and had advised the bank to prepare and document a current concept of depositories.
Currently the gold of the Bundesbank is stored, according to its statements, in New York, London, Paris, and Frankfurt. At the U.S. central bank 45 percent of the total 3,396 tonnes of gold are stored; at the Bank of England in London 13 percent; at the Banque de France in Paris 11 percent; and 31 percent at Bundesbank headquarters in Frankfurt. This distribution is about to change now.
Bundesbank board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele already said last fall that there was no compelling reason for storage in the French capital. Originally, the Federal Republic of Germany distributed its gold during the Cold War and the division of Germany for security reasons to various partner countries, including France. This argument does no longer apply. Another argument against Paris: Unlike in London or New York, in the event of a world currency crisis the Bundesbank would receive no foreign exchange.
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Statement by Peter Boehringer
Founder, Repatriate Our Gold, Germany
Wednesday, January 15, 2013
Repatriate our Gold — http://www.gold-action.de and http://www.gold-action.de/campaign.html — is of course satisfied with the development at the Bundesbank. This is a huge success that would have been almost beyond imagination 1 1/2 years ago when we started our initiative.
But:
1) The Bundesbank has not yet given details of this repatriation.
2) It is unfortunate that obviously the Bundesbank still does not plan to publish official gold bar number lists, which are important to prove or disprove double ownerships of bars and loans of German gold bars abroad that could have been used to manipulate the price of gold in the past.
3) There is no word about a proper physical and independent audit of gold in the Bundesbank’s own vaults.
We will see how things develop. But we are proud of the success so far.
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UPDATE:
A comment by Jim Sinclair, originally published at JSMineSet here.
German Bundesbank begins officially repatriating gold from the Fed
My Dear Extended Family,
According to Handelsblatt, a respected publication, Germany is serious about repatriating significant amounts of gold held outside of Germany, mostly by the Federal Reserve. This sends a message about storing gold near you and taking delivery no matter who is holding it.
When France did this years ago it sent panic amongst the US financial leadership to the degree of monetary aggression. Why? The inviting question has always been does the US have fungible gold assets to the degree claimed.
Have you signed the petition for audit of US Gold that Bix* sent you yesterday?
Charles De Gaulle was the first person in modern history to call the hand of the USA on its then obligation to convert French held dollar reserves into gold. I was a senior trader at the time.
History will look back on this salvo fired across US war financing as being the beginning of the end of the US dollar as the reserve currency of choice.
The reaction on the part of the US was to cut the tie between the dollar and convertibility. This again raises the question of does the USA have fungible gold to the degree that is claimed without 3rd party audits or any viewing publicly whatsoever.
If it is true as reliable sources today reported that Germany wishes to repatriate a significant amount of its gold, then that request is a modern version of the first salvo that Charles de Gaulle fired at the US treasury over convertibility
Assume that no close violated Alf’s** downside price and it is possible that today’s revelation concerning Germany is an event leading to gold’s first main target above the recent high of $2111. It is significant because under normal circumstances no major central bank would insult another major central bank in that manner.
Today’s report, if true, is a salvo fired at the concept that the USA has all the gold it claims and all the gold it stores for others. If true, this event is the most important gold development since Charles De Gaulle called the US hand that it would stand by convertibility which many then assumed it could not because even then the amount of gold held was publicly questioned.
Respectfully,
Jim.
For further reading on the topic:
Germany Wants Its Gold Back
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-futures-tick-higher-in-asia-trading-2013-01-15
It Begins: Bundesbank To Commence Repatriating Gold From New York Fed
As Germany Prepares To Repatriate Its Gold, We Hope They Have Learned From The „Monetary Sins Of The Past“
* Bix Weir
** Alf Field
