France bids farewell to the Fed: the last gold from the US has been repatriated. A technical move, but one that yields €13 billion in profits (while Italy remains on the sidelines).
The Banque de France (BdF) has completed a monetary policy operation as discreet as it is extremely profitable. The Parisian central bank has liquidated its last 129 tons of gold held at the New York Federal Reserve, replacing them with new-generation bullion physically stored in its underground vaults in Paris, at La Souterraine.
The transaction, conducted between July 2025 and January 2026, involved approximately 5% of France's total gold reserves. Officially, the move is part of a modernization plan begun over twenty years ago to align reserves with modern international standards (LBMA). However, the financial and geopolitical implications tell a much deeper story.
Rather than embark on complex and costly refining and transatlantic shipping processes, the BdF chose the market route: it sold the "old" gold in the United States and simultaneously purchased compliant bars in Europe . This pragmatic choice, combined with the historic rally in the price of the yellow metal, generated a monstrous capital gain of approximately 13 billion euros ($15 billion) .
This liquidity injection had a life-saving effect on the bank's accounts. While 2024 closed with a net loss of 7.7 billion euros, the 2025 financial statements recorded a comforting net profit of 8.1 billion, driven precisely by the brisk gold speculation.
Here is the reserve situation compared:
- France: 2,437 tons, entirely in Paris;
- Germany: 3,350 tons, 37% to New York;
- Italy: 2,451 tons, 41% in New York
The Governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, was quick to clarify that the decision "is not politically motivated." This is a necessary reassurance for the markets, but one that raises a smile among more attentive observers. The French move, in fact, is part of a climate of growing European distrust of overseas dynamics and appears to be a classic "Excusatio non petita."
It is no coincidence that in Germany (the world's second-largest holder of gold), calls for a disengagement from the Fed are multiplying. Michael Jäger , head of the European Taxpayers Association , recently underlined how the unpredictable policies of the Trump administration are pushing us to reconsider the security of American vaults, where Berlin still leaves 1,236 tons of its national treasure resting.
And what about Italy? Our country holds the world's fourth-largest gold reserves (behind the US and Germany, and just ahead of France), but its strategic position is radically different from that of Paris. Over a thousand tons of Bank of Italy's gold are still stored in Manhattan. While France is strengthening its monetary sovereignty and Germany is heatedly debating the matter, Italy maintains its logistical exposure to Washington intact, forgoing, for now, capitalizing on potential technical adjustments that, as Paris has shown, could greatly benefit national budgets.
The article "France bids farewell to the Fed: the last gold from the US has been repatriated. A technical move, but one that will generate €13 billion in profits (while Italy remains on the sidelines)" comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-francia-saluta-la-fed-rimpatriato-lultimo-oro-dagli-usa-una-mossa-tecnica-ma-da-13-miliardi-di-utile-mentre-litalia-resta-alla-finestra/ on Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:00:20 +0000.