Economy

Banque de France's Gold Move and Financial Shift

Saturday, May 9, 2026
5 min read
Banque de France's Gold Move and Financial Shift

France’s central bank, the Banque de France , made a big move on its gold. They decided to cash out some of the gold they held in New York. This happened right when gold prices were really spiking, following that whole phenomenal rally we’ve been seeing in commodities lately.

The media release said they pulled out about five percent of the gold they had sitting in New York. They swapped it out for gold bars right there in their vaults in Paris. It was a strategic shift, you know?

And then there’s the financial side of things. As part of their FY2025 announcement, they brought up something they called an “exceptional item.” This thing helped them turn a massive EUR 2.9 billion loss into an annual profit of EUR 8.1 billion. That kind of swing is wild.

The bank highlighted how much money they made from non-monetary activities. They noted that the income from assets denominated in euro actually grew by EUR 2 billion. It was driven by some big increases in outstandings.

But the real kicker? Income from assets held for their own account jumped by EUR 12.2 billion because of that exceptional item. The bank explained it.

It turns out, even though the actual volume of gold reserves didn't change between 2025 and early 2026, the Banque de France had to align a residual portion—that five percent—with some technical guidelines. That resulted in a huge realized currency gain. This exceptional foreign exchange income totaled EUR 11 billion for 2025.

It makes you think about what everyone else is doing. Central banks globally are just piling up their gold reserves right now. All because of the geopolitical mess and the whole US dollar debasement happening.

Back in the day, some European countries figured it was safer to keep some gold with the New York Federal Reserve Bank after World War 2. France was one of those countries. They could just buy, sell, and swap gold without hauling huge amounts across borders.

But that changed. Since 1960, France has been pulling that reserve out of the Federal Reserve in New York ever since the US dropped the Bretton Woods system.

Over the last couple of decades, the BdF was slowly replacing those older, non-standard gold holdings—stuff stored in New York included—with bars that actually meet modern international standards.

Then came the audit recommendation from 2024. The bank decided to replace the US-held gold between July 2025 and January 2026. Instead of messing around with refining and transporting the existing gold, they just sold those bars and bought new bullion within Europe. A much cleaner move, maybe. A real pivot.

Written by Gree News Team — Senior Editorial Board

Gree News Team covers international news and global affairs at Gree News. Our collective of senior editors is dedicated to providing independent, accurate, and responsible journalism for a global audience.

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