France sells 129 tonnes of gold held in US for $15 billion profit! Here’s how it happened

The Bank of France, also known as Banque de France (Bdf), has completed the shift of its remaining gold held in New York by replacing it with an equivalent amount of bullion stored in Paris, in a move that also resulted in a sizable financial gain. The transfer involved 129 tonnes of gold, accounting for about 5% of its total reserves.

Instead of physically transporting the same gold, the central bank sold the older, non-standard bars held with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and purchased new, internationally compliant bullion in Europe. This approach allowed it to upgrade the quality of its reserves while relocating them domestically.

France had been storing part of its gold in New York since the late 1920s. Although efforts to bring gold back began in the 1960s around the time the United States ended the Bretton Woods system, a small portion had continued to remain overseas until now. The latest move followed a 2024 internal audit that recommended replacing older gold holdings with bars that meet current global standards, with the process carried out between July 2025 and January 2026.

The timing of the transaction proved beneficial. With gold prices elevated, the sale of the older reserves generated a capital gain of €13 billion, or about $15 billion. This helped the central bank post a net profit of €8.1 billion for 2025, compared with a net loss of €7.7 billion in the previous year.

Importantly, the overall size of France’s gold reserves remains unchanged at around 2,437 tonnes. What has changed is the composition and location, with the entire stock now held in the central bank’s underground vault in La Souterraine. The Bank of France still has 134 tonnes of gold left to upgrade, a process it aims to complete by 2028.

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