The Banque de France has divested its entire gold holdings at the US Federal Reserve, reportedly earning a profit of around $15 billion, as various media outlets have reported.
According to RFI, the French bank announced a profit of 12.8 billion euros (approximately $14.8 billion) after retrieving 129 tons of gold from the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. This gold has now been replaced with high-quality bars stored in Paris, which constitute about 5% of the bank’s total reserves.
The new gold bars in Paris meet current international standards. As noted by Newsweek, this shift was gradual, starting in July 2025 and wrapping up in January, marking the first time in almost a century that France has not had gold stored at the New York Fed.
The New York Fed did not provide immediate comments when reached for clarification.
Steve Hanke, an applied economics professor at Johns Hopkins University, mentioned that France’s action was influenced by the freezing of Russian assets after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He noted that while other European nations were contemplating the withdrawal of their gold reserves, France was the first to execute the decision.
“France is the only nation that has officially made a move. Germany and Italy are also considering it,” Hanke remarked, recalling discussions that arose following the freezing of Russian central bank assets. He emphasized that, under prior norms, such assets were considered untouchable.
Hanke elaborated that President Biden had set a precedent by breaking the long-standing notion that central bank reserves had immunity from seizure.
He added that a critical factor prompting France’s decision was Trump’s often dismissive remarks regarding French President Emmanuel Macron and his spouse Brigitte.
Furthermore, Hanke suggested that more countries might follow suit, especially in light of potential conflicts involving the United States and Israel against Iran, which could lead to a significant shift in attitudes towards the U.S.
J.D. Foster, a former chief economist, shared that France’s withdrawal symbolically signifies a deeper estrangement from the United States and could lead to the U.S. also distancing itself from Europe.
He expressed skepticism about the practical implications, stating that these gold reserves are merely remnants of an outdated financial system, and in today’s landscape, where vast amounts of money circulate quickly, they seem relatively insignificant.
Historically, the Banque de France has been updating its gold reserves since 2005. The bank had been keeping gold in the U.S. since the late 1920s but sold most of its holdings to banks in the U.S. and the UK during the mid-1960s.
Reportedly, France now holds all of its 2,437 tonnes of gold reserves in Paris, making it the fourth largest in the world, following the United States, Germany, and Italy.
Germany currently has 1,236 tonnes of gold (around 37% of its total reserves of 3,350 tonnes) stored in New York and another 12% in London. In January, a top German economist raised concerns about keeping such a significant amount of gold in the U.S., advocating for its repatriation to enhance strategic independence.
