Who Owns The Most Gold?
This is an interesting question. The price of gold has been soaring in recent times. So the question is- who´s coining it in, and who´s watching the action like a doe eyed labrador?
Well, Gordon Brown famously sold much of the UK´s gold when the price was down the pan, but someone must be a winner? Who is it? We decided to do a bit of research. Governments, banks, and investment funds are world's largest gold bullion owners- that should come as no suprise. Gold has always been a safe bet to protect against inflation, particularly when othe rinvestments are going a bit haywire. The place to do you rresearch is the International Monetary Fund. These bods know their stuff.
Among the "Big Swinging Dicks" of the gold world are the following:
- The Netherland Central bank
- Japan
- The Swiss National Bank. The bullion is thought to be kept in massive underground vaults in Berne, but the location is a closely guarded secret.
- China- no suprises that this country is on the list. they are everywhere economically speaking.
- SPDR Gold Trust- this is traded on the Singapore and Tokyo Stock Exchanges. All of the physical gold is stored by HSBC Bank, in their London vault.
- Banque De France
- The Italian National Bank, Banca D'Italia
- The Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany's central bank
- USA- this country has the largest gold reserve in the world. The majority of USA´s gold is said to be held in Fort Knox, Kentucky, although there are some conspiracy theories on this one. Gold os also stored at the Philadelphia Mint, the Denver Mint, the West Point Bullion Depository and the San Francisco Assay Office.
Gordon Brown and the UK Gold Reserves
Gordon Brown decided to sell of more than 50% of the UK´s gold reserves in 1999 cost the public purse nearly £6 billion, it is estimated
In 17 auctions, Mr Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer sold 395 tonnes of the yellow stuff that depressed market prices at the time. Gold prices now, of course, are way above what they were..
Total proceeds from the sales was around $3.5billion. According to a Parliamentary answer, if the gold was sold last month, it would have raised $13 billion.
The difference - $9.5 billion - would be worth £5.5billion if the money was converted into pounds yesterday. Ouch.