Policy uncertainty under the Trump administration has driven central banks to reallocate gold reserves, as gold holdings in London vaults approach 10,000 tons.

The Financial Times reported that U.S. policy uncertainty, tariff risks, and the precedent of frozen overseas sovereign assets are prompting some central banks to re-evaluate the locations of their gold reserves, with London emerging as one of the beneficiaries. New York still dominates gold futures and derivatives trading, but London’s advantages in physical gold storage, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and central bank reserve management have become more prominent. The Netherlands’ central bank moved around 86 tons of gold from the U.S. and Canada to London between March and August this year, lifting London’s share in its total gold reserves of 612.4 tons from 18.1% to 32.1%. The Dutch central bank said the move aims to improve the tradability and accessibility of its gold in the event of severe crises. Data from the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) shows that as of the end of September 2026, commercial vaults in London and the Bank of England’s vaults held a total of 9,821 tons of gold, up 1.96% month-on-month, worth about $1.3 trillion. London’s mature OTC system allows gold lending, swaps, and trading without physically moving bullion, boosting the liquidity of physical gold. The freezing of Russia’s overseas sovereign assets after the Russia-Ukraine conflict has also made countries pay more attention to the jurisdiction of reserve assets and their availability in extreme cases. However, there are currently no signs that central banks are fully withdrawing from the U.S. gold custody system. Asian financial hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong are also accelerating the construction of gold storage and trading infrastructure, and the global gold market is taking shape with New York leading derivatives, London focusing on physical gold, and Asia accelerating its development.