France Moves Gold from US to Paris, Earns Massive Gains Amid Price Surge

France’s central bank, Banque de France, has made a strategic move to cash in its large gold holdings held in New York when gold prices are hovering high, following a strong rally in the commodity.

According to the media release, the bank said it had pulled the remaining gold held in New York, which was around 5 per cent of the bank’s total holdings, and replaced it with a similar amount of gold bars in its vaults in Paris.

As part of its FY2025 announcement, the central bank disclosed an “exceptional item" that helped it turn a EUR 2.9 billion loss into an annual profit of EUR 8.1 billion.

The bank in the press release highlighted the improvement in income from non-monetary activities. “Net income from assets denominated in euro rose by EUR 2 billion, driven by an increase in outstandings," it added.

Income from assets held for own account rose by EUR 12.2 billion as a result of an exceptional item, the bank said. " In 2025 and at the start of 2026, while the volume of gold reserves remained unchanged, the Banque de France had to align a residual portion (5%) with technical guidelines, resulting in a significant realised currency gain. This exceptional foreign exchange income totalled EUR 11 billion for 2025," it added.

Central banks across the world are piling up their gold reserve amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty linked to regional tensions and concerns over the US dollar.

As a measure to secure and save cost, some European countries chose to keep a portion of their gold reserves with the New York Federal Reserve Bank following World War 2. France was one of them, allowing frequent buying, selling and swapping without transporting large amounts of gold.

Since 1960, France, however, has been pulling out the reserve held with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York after the US termination of the Bretton Woods system.

Over the past two decades, the Banque de France has been gradually replacing its older or non-standard gold holdings, including those stored in New York, with bars that meet modern international standards.

Following a 2024 internal audit recommendation, the bank replaced the US-held gold between July 2025 and January 2026. Instead of refining and transporting the existing gold, it chose to sell those bars and buy new bullion within Europe.