Bank of France repatriates 129 tons of gold from the United States

France has gradually repatriated well over 100 tons of gold it had stored in the United States over the past several months.

What’s more, the French central bank made over a dozen billion euros by converting its old bullion held in New York into newer ones now kept in Paris.

France brings back gold reserves from America

France’s monetary authority confirmed this week that it had completed the withdrawal of 129 metric tons of gold previously held with the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The repatriation of precious metals from the Fed vaults is part of a strategy to improve the quality of France’s gold holdings.

The Bank of France has been working to align its reserves with modern international standards, replacing older bars with new ones that meet a purity standard of 99.5%.

Rather than refining or transporting the original stock, which would have incurred additional costs, the central bank opted for an arbitrage operation, Journal du Coin reported Wednesday.

It sold the reserves it had across the Atlantic and almost immediately purchased gold of a higher standard on the European market, the crypto news outlet explained in an article.

This was done through over two dozen transactions, carried out between July 2025 and January 2026, the bank unveiled a day earlier.

The conversion has not changed the volume of France’s reserves, which currently stand at about 2,437 tons. The 129 tons account for approximately 5% of the total, as noted by Reuters. However, the gold is now in Paris, not New York.

Commenting on the decision, Governor François Villeroy de Galhau ruled out any political motive and highlighted technical and liquidity reasons, pointing out that gold of a higher standard is traded in Europe.

The new bars are stored in the La Souterraine underground vault, deep beneath the Bank of France headquarters in the French capital, which holds the world’s fourth-largest gold reserve.

Banque de France returns to profit thanks to gold move

Amid record-high gold prices, the repatriation proved quite profitable for the Bank of France, which registered capital gains amounting to €12.8 billion (nearly $15 billion).

Thanks to the operation, the monetary authority managed to return to a net profit of €8.1 billion for the fiscal year 2025, after registering significant losses the previous year.

While the transaction has not changed the quantity of physical gold held by the regulator, it has improved the quality of the assets on its balance sheet.

Its management describes it as transforming a latent capital gain into accounting profit, while securing the liquidity of France’s national reserves.

The French central bank intends to continue with the standardization of its reserves as it still holds around 134 tons of gold in the form of old coins and ingots. The process should be finalized by 2028.

News of the completion of the latest operation comes as Villeroy de Galhau prepares to step down in June, after more than a decade at the helm of one of Europe’s most important central banks.

France repatriated most of its gold reserves from the vaults of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, over 3,300 tons, between 1963 and 1966.

Then, President Charles de Gaulle feared the deficit in America’s balance of payments would undermine the Bretton Woods system and devalue the Greenback against the precious metal.

In January, a prominent German member of the European Parliament urged Berlin to pull its gold from the United States, citing Washington’s “unpredictable” policies under President Trump.

The Bundesbank still keeps 1,236 tons of gold, or 37% of the Federal Republic’s total holdings, at the U.S. Federal Reserve in New York.

Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free.