Bri et les swaps d'or / file de suivi

BIS : swap de 380 T depuis fin 2009 / les BC ont un cruel besoin de devises

pour mémo, la Bri ( banque des réglements internationaux, Bri en anglais ), c'est LA banque des banques

le dernier WAG démarré en sept dernier autorise explicitement ( et contrairement aux années précédentes ) les dérivés, donc les swaps..comme c'est pratique ..

Citation :

The new Washington Agreement, which started at the end of last September, allowed signatories to engage in gold derivative transactions for the first time in a decade. Very convenient.

et la BIS ( banque des réglement internationaux ) aurait, d'apres les statistiques virtual metal, engagé un swap de 380 T depuis fin 2009.. c'est à dire échangé de l'or à une ( ou plusieurs) BC,contre des devises

380 T, c'est l'un des plus gros swaps de l'histoire !

www.lemetropolecafe.com

The news of the day, of course, was the discovery by the Virtual Metals analyst (Matthew Turner) that the BIS engaged in what appears to have been the biggest gold swap in history prior to the end of their FY end on March 31^st. Thebulliondesk.com (first of the wire services to report) says:
"In its 2010 annual report, the BIS said that "gold, which the bank held in connection with gold swap operations, under which the bank exchanges currencies for physical gold," stands at 8,160.1 million in special drawing rights, equivalent to 346 tonnes this year, up from nil in 2009.
While the data is relevant to the end of BIS’ 2010 financial year in March, data posted to the International Monetary Fund and carried by Bloomberg show the swap still growing in April, analyst Andy Smith of Bache Commodities noted.

To now, this implies a swap of about 380 tonnes from the end of 2009, he said in a report."
The new Washington Agreement, which started at the end of last September, allowed signatories to engage in gold derivative transactions for the first time in a decade. Very convenient.
Although none of the major bullion banks (actual or potential CB counterparties) will want to discuss this, the high probability is that much of this gold was actually sold into the market. Very likely this accounts for the contra-seasonal slump of gold in December, which it will be recalled was neither preceded by the usual loss of physical premiums nor accompanied by the usual open interest action.
This in effect means the end of the Washington Agreement restraint on CB gold selling, at a time when several signatories are in bad shape. Most likely this is what caused the selling pressure in gold today, especially after the NY open.
In fact, CB selling programs impact the gold market in an unpredictable way. Some will remember that the announcement of a similar size Dutch sale in early ’93 was followed by the best gold rally of that dismal decade. Here too, a large amount of metal has apparently been absorbed. And the lesson of the CB gold selling/"mobilization" panic of earlier in the 90s is that the Eastern physical market will absorb any amount of gold, at a price. Unlike the ‘90s of course, CB selling is being caused by intrinsically very gold friendly developments.
CB announcements are of course usually after the fact and generally untrustworthy. Physical premium tracking has become more important than ever.

.....

le montant du swap correspond à l'once près aux réserves officielles du portugal..mais il se peut également que plusieurs banques centrales aient fait appel à la bis, pour obtenir des devises ..

Bank of International Settlements registered biggest gold swap in history at 346 tonnes
By Melanie Burton - Correspondent, press@fastmarkets.com (+44 (0)20 7929 6339)
Printer friendly version London, 06 July 2010 - The Bank of International Settlements has registered the biggest gold swap in history at 346 tonnes, which points to a central bank in strong need of funds, according to a report on Tuesday.

In its 2010 annual report, the BIS said that "gold, which the bank held in connection with gold swap operations, under which the bank exchanges currencies for physical gold," stands at 8,160.1 million in special drawing rights, equivalent to 346 tonnes this year, up from nil in 2009.

"The bank has an obligation to return the gold at the end of the contract," it added.

The Switzerland-based BIS effectively serves as a bank for central banks - it has 56 member central banks. Swaps are financial instruments that allow for the exchange of one asset for another - in this case, gold for currency.

While the data is relevant to the end of BIS’ 2010 financial year in March, data posted to the International Monetary Fund and carried by Bloomberg show the swap still growing in April, analyst Andy Smith of Bache Commodities noted.

To now, this implies a swap of about 380 tonnes from the end of 2009, he said in a report.

"This is the biggest gold swap in history, raising a non-negligible, even macro $14 billion or 10 billion euros," he said. "It’s usually only when the going gets really tough that the gold gets going/mobilised in size."

"Greece does not have anything like the gold already swapped at the BIS (it holds only 112 tonnes). But Portugal does, almost to the ounce," he said. "More vivid imaginations... might even see some role for the ECB here."

There are 14 banks central banks that hold 346 tonnes or more of gold, with the US in the top spot with 8,133 tonnes. Germany has 3,406 tonnes with the IMF while Italy and France have upwards of 2,400 tonnes.

China and Switzerland both hold slightly more than 1,000 tonnes of gold followed by Japan (765 tonnes), Russia (669 tonnes) and the Netherlands (613 tonnes). After this comes India (558 tonnes), the ECB (501 tonnes) and Taiwan (423 tonnes). Portugal is next with 382 tonnes, according to the latest World Gold Council data.

"A gold swap... would satisfy the letter of the Lisbon Treaty ‘no bail out’ clause because repayment would be in full at maturity. And it would have the added attraction of being under the radar," Smith added.

And in the last Central Bank Gold Agreement (CBGA), a treaty used by European central banks to regulate their gold holdings that was set in September 2009, members "presciently dropped the clause... prohibiting signatories from opening new gold derivatives [such as swaps]," he added.

But while suspicion turns automatically to debt-laden European nations that might need liquidity fast - Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain in particular - there is no proof that the swap relates to the actions of one central bank alone, a senior executive at a large market making bullion bank said.

"If it’s one country, it is clearly much easier to spot but if it’s several countries it’s not," he said. "I’m not sure how it would be reflected on the central bank's books or if it would be reflected because as far as I am aware gold doesn’t change hands [for book-keeping purposes]."

"However, it is a large amount of gold and not many countries have that much gold. If it is a total of 346 tonnes it can be only 14 countries - it wouldn’t be showed on IMF records either," he added.

(Additional reporting by Clara Denina. Editing by Mark Shaw)
-END-
I went to James Turk to get a read on what this announcement meant…
"Swaps are quick. The BIS just creates a bookkeeping entry for the currency it lends against the gold it now holds as security. If the currency loan does not get repaid, the BIS owns the gold.

"Swaps normally do not result in the sale of physical metal. However, if the BIS did not have sufficient metal on hand for its gold interventions, it could presumably borrow some of the gold left with it as security and sell this gold into the market or lend it to a bullion bank who would then sell the gold."
I went back to James and inquired further whether the BIS had that much cash lying around. James...
"Cash on hand, no. But it has $370 billion of assets, most of which are liquid short-term stuff. Plus it can borrow essentially unlimited amounts from central banks. So it can come up with that much bookkeeping currency quickly."
The real issue for us is whether this physical gold has hit the market or not. The BIS and IMF are all part of The Gold Cartel. They want the price controlled and sent down whenever possible. If the gold was sold in order to keep the prices from exploding, this news would be extraordinarily bullish, as it would mean demand for physical gold is MUCH higher than been officially reported.

***********
d'après A Douglas,
la bis aurait déjà disposé de cet or .. en l'échangeant contre des DTS.. ce qui est extremement bull, vu la réaction de l'or qui n'a pas bronché , au contraire.. depuis sept 2009



More on all of this tomorrow, but first from Adrian…
Physical short squeeze anyone?
Bill,
The IMF since February has been selling about 15 t per month on average very quietly and without fanfare. This shows the physical market is short of gold. In May the average daily trading of gold on the LBMA increased 50% to 24.7 Mozs per day! Now we see the BIS did its biggest gold swap ever.
Note that the BIS swapped gold for currencies. In other words it took gold from a CB and gave them currency. BUT the BIS is not storing that gold in a vault. It has mobilized it into the market by loaning it. The report says the BIS holds 8,160.1 million in SDR’s EQUIVALENT to 346 tonnes of gold…that means the gold they received for the swap has been loaned out in exchange for SDR IOU gold paper. They know the country who swapped it won’t be asking for it back until they can pay back the cash side of the swap which if the country is in dire need of cash may be never. This is more evidence that there is a massive increase in physical demand and behind the scenes the CB’s are scrambling to meet it and hide it from sight.
Cheers
Adrian

pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas encore l'implication de la BRI dans les manips du cartel.. et qui se demandent pourkoi les bc devraient préter de l'or en échange de devises.. qu'elles pourraient imprimer elles mêmes ..
il faut comprendre que si une bc européenne a besoin de $, elle ne peut pas les'imprimer.. c'est évident, mais ça a le mérite d'étre plus clair ..

le topo complet est ici

http://www.gata.org/node/8795

*********************

en prime et sur le "passif" de la BRI

http://www.edwardjayepstein.com/archived/moneyclub.htm

*The gold price suppression scheme went into high gear when Alan Greenspan and head of the NY Fed, William McDonough took Board seats on the BIS in early 1995.
*1983 magazine profile shows BIS constantly intervening in gold market in secret
1a ET Monday, June 28, 2010
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Thanks to our friend W.G. for pointing out a fascinating article written for Harper's magazine in November 1983 about the Bank for International Settlements by the veteran journalist Edward Jay Epstein, who seems to have been given unusual access to top BIS officials. Epstein's article shows the BIS running the world financial system almost entirely in secret and, in the process, frequently intervening in the gold market or making gold available to arbitrageurs as part of a general system of currency market regulation -- and swapping gold particularly as part of a policy of supporting the U.S. dollar.
Of course this was 27 years ago and the BIS couldn't possibly be part of such things anymore, could it? After all, Kitco senior market analyst Jon Nadler says central banks have no motive to manipulate the gold market, and CPM Group executive Jeff Christian says central bankers hardly ever think about gold. (That would explain why they have chosen him as their gold consultant.)

*************

commentaires et explications complémentaires chez Jesse

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2010/07/imf-engaged-in-gold-swaps-to-about-380.html

l'analyse de A Douglas

http://www.gata.org/node/8803

puisque ce swap a été découvert, et que la nouvelle n'a pas été claironnée par la BRI, il s'agit fort probablement d'une nouvelle bull ( voir d'un sauvetage d'une bullion banque )... sans quoi, nous aurions eu droit aux clairons officiels ..

la Bri corrige le wall street journal == > le swap aurait été conclu avec des banques commerciales et non des banques centrales ...


mais comme aucune banque commerciale ne posséde ce montant, il s'agit plus vraisemblablement d'un swap tripartite

- swap bc et banques commerciales
- swap banques commerciales et bri

ce qui permet aux bques commerciales de disposer de cet or pour le vendre sur le marché, sans bourse délier ..
et à la bri de remplir discrétement sa mission

*************

Mysterious BIS gold swaps are likely a bullion bank bailout


Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2010-07-08 19:24. Section: Daily Dispatches
By Adrian Douglas
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The latest twist in the gold swap saga of the Bank for International Settlements is intriguing, as indicated by last night's GATA Dispatch, "Gold Swap Mystery Deepens as BIS Gets Correction from Wall Street Journal":
http://www.gata.org/node/8799
As always, news of anything to do with the gold market is cloaked in secrecy, misinformation, and innuendo.
What we can be sure of is that the BIS news is gold-friendly.
Why?
Because the BIS was intending to keep the matter secret.
The BIS gold swaps were not announced but instead "discovered" by an analyst snooping around the BIS accounts.
Similarly the International Monetary Fund has been quietly selling gold each month since February even though for years every possibility of a gold sale by the IMF was announced X to the power N times, where X is the number of tonnes to be sold and N is the gold price.

The BIS typically transacts with central banks but not exclusively; the BIS' own profile also mentions a "number of international institutions" with which it does business, which includes undoubtedly commercial banks and bullion banks, which are also commercial banks.
The BIS is always active in the gold market, so it cannot just transact with central banks, as the central banks need someone to make trades for them:
http://www.bis.org/about/profile.pdf
"The BIS offers a wide range of financial services specifically designed to assist central banks and other monetary authorities in the management of their foreign exchange reserves. As of 31 March 2010 some 130 such authorities, as well as a number of international institutions, made use of BIS financial services. Total currency deposits amounted to SDR 196 billion, representing around 3 percent of world foreign exchange reserves."
If the BIS were to trade directly with a central bank in a gold swap, the gold would act as collateral and probably would not change its physical location and cash would be given to the central bank.
But the BIS corrected The Wall Street Journal's first story, saying its swap was with commercial banks, not central banks.
While a central bank theoretically and practically could hold 380 tonnes of unencumbered gold, there is no way that a commercial bank is sitting on 380 tonnes of unencumbered gold. So the gold in the BIS swaps came from somewhere else.
The only possibility is a central bank or several central banks. (Portugal holds 380 tonnes. Just coincidence? Spain holds 280 tonnes and Greece 112 tonnes.)
So the BIS swaps look like a tripartite transaction. The commercial bank or banks made a swap with a central bank or banks and then the commercial bank or banks made a swap with the BIS.
Why would this be done?
This is not about currency liquidity, as the $14 billion reported raised is not liquidity; it is pocket change.
On the other hand, 380 tonnes of gold is liquidity in the gold market, where mines produce only about 2,200 tonnes per year.
If the BIS made the swap directly with a central bank, the gold would not be provided to anyone for liquidity.
If the swap was made between a commercial bank and a central bank, the commercial bank would get its hands on the gold and the gold would change location to the vaults of the commercial bank, a bullion bank.
This would require the bullion bank to hand over $14 billion of its own money.
But by doing another swap with the BIS, the commercial bank would get the money from the BIS and technically the gold would now belong to the BIS, even as it most likely would not change location and 380 tonnes of gold would be digitally credited to the BIS' unallocated gold account at the bullion bank.
In this way the central bank or banks would get cash and the BIS would get the unallocated gold as collateral and as if by magic the bullion bank or banks would get 380 tonnes of gold to bail them out for a few more weeks as massive physical demand for metal eats their lunch.
And the bullion banks would manage this without paying a dime of their own money.
Why would the BIS be a willing player in this scheme?
Because it would fall into the type of operations BIS official William S. White described in a speech in 2005 when he said that among the five objectives of central bank cooperation is "the provision of international credits and joint efforts to influence asset prices (especially gold and foreign exchange) in circumstances where this might be thought useful." You can find White's speech here:
http://www.gata.org/node/4279
With gold reaching record high prices and a run on the banks of the gold cartel gaining pace, this must be an occasion where such an asset price-influencing operation would be thought "useful" by those who are beneficiaries of the longevity of the paper currency game.
The surreptitious monthly gold sales by the IMF and this record gold swap by the BIS are reminiscent of the London Gold Pool that ended so badly in 1968. The Western central banks have rigged the gold market for so long that they can no longer think straight. The only thing they can think of is to do more of the same, hoping that this will reverse the growing mistrust of all things paper and the entire banking system.
In the words of the great philosopher Aerosmith, "Dream on!"
-----
Adrian Douglas publishes the Market Force Analysis letter (http://www.MarketForceAnalysis.com) and is a member of GATA's Board of Directors.

Julian.D.W.Philiips souligne le fait que l'or fait son retour officiel, dans le systéme monétaire international..
raison pour laquelle la BRI reste très discrète..
je souligne "officiel"..puisqu'il ne l'a jamais quitté, en réalité.. du fait de la politique monétaire du $ et de la fed

http://news.goldseek.com/GoldForecaster/1278723600.php

de plus en plus d'indices convergent vers le portugal

http://www.usagold.com/cpmforum/?p=178151

www.lemetropolecafe.com

Adrian Douglas

Bill,
It could just be coincidence. Although this mentions 380t were swapped back in 2001 that should have been reversed before now. The BIS report footnote mentions 346t but taking swaps reported after the Q1 report brings the total to 380t. Back in 2001 Portugal had apparently 606t while now they have 381t as reported by WGC.
Now there does seem to be a coincidence in the numbers that 380t was what they had on swap previously and is now what they have as total reserves and is now equal to total estimated outstanding BIS gold swaps.
We can’t say for sure but it certainly is curious.
Here is where the link might be. If, as I speculated, that the bullion banks needed gold to bail them out in a hurry then Portugal’s gold could have been the most easily accessible. From this info we know they had previously swapped 380t. This means that the gold was probably moved to London and was held by the bullion banks or the BOE as collateral for the swap. If the swap had been unwound in recent years the gold may well have remained in London it would therefore be instantly accessible to the London market if there is a lack of physical to meet mushrooming demand. This would then have been involved in tripartite swap as I described involving the BIS.
If this is correct then they are truly desperate for supply and for immediate delivery requirements.
Cheers
Adrian

*********

James Turk

*GATA’s James Turk noted this morning: "The Bank of Portugal has 382 tonnes of gold as of Dec 31, 2009, but according to its annual report, 45% (172 tonnes) is "Gold in storage at the Bank", which makes it sound like the gold is stored in the Bank of Portugal's own vault."
James went on to note over the phone…
*It says "Bank" not The Bank of Portugal.
*It means 210 tonnes of Portuguese gold is not in "storage."

L'analyse de Reg Howe, (qui avait déposé une plainte contre la BRI en 2000, pour manipulation du gold market )

http://www.goldensextant.com/commentary37.html#anchor5208

Citation :

"What is unclear is why the bullion banks needed or chose to raise cash in this novel manner, and why the central bank or banks were willing to provide such unusual accommodation. Commentators are largely in agreement that the additional liquidity provided -- 346 tonnes or approximately US$14 billion -- suggests that it was aimed at the gold market specifically, where this is a significant amount, rather than at any larger systemic issues, where it would be a drop in the bucket."

avec le commentaire de Chris Powell
http://www.gata.org/node/8830
Reg Howe: BIS swaps seem meant to stretch out paper gold


Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2010-07-15 04:28. Section: Daily Dispatches
12:25a ET Thursday, July 15, 2010
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Reginald H. Howe of GoldenSextant.com, plaintiff in the 2000 federal lawsuit against the Bank for International Settlements for gold market manipulation, analyzes the recent massive gold swaps undertaken by the BIS and figures that they are likely "the latest technique for giving official support to an increasingly shaky gold banking business," a way of "increasing the ratio of paper claims on gold to the underlying amount of available real metal." Howe concludes: "The growing reluctance of central banks to part with whatever gold they have left can only be a positive development for committed gold investors."

l'excellent Mogambo guru

http://www.la-chronique-agora.com/articles/20100721-2911.html

remarques interessantes d'une blogueuse sur les leases rates, les stocks du comex ( dont la partie "dealer" est en nette baisse ) et ce fameux swap de la Bri


http://www.gata.org/node/8850
Izabella Kaminska: Looks like BIS swaps relieved gold market squeeze


Submitted by cpowell on Thu, 2010-07-22 20:22. Section: Daily Dispatches
4:22p ET Thursday, July 22, 2010
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Gold market blogger Izabella Kaminska has examined data for the New York Commodities Exchange's gold inventory and finds that while inventory is nominally high, the metal actually available for sale is relatively low on a historical basis. Recent negative gold lease rates, she writes, have signified tightness in the physical market.
"That is to say," Kaminska explains, "we used to pay for borrowing money from the bank -- pledging gold as collateral. Now we get paid for borrowing money from the bank -- pledging gold as collateral. We wonder why. In which case, the Bank of International Settlements getting involved in the 'cash for gold' market might make perfect sense -- especially if its real aim was to reset the stakes. We note that three-month lease rates, for example, did coincidentally go positive over the supposed gold swap action."
Kaminska's commentary is headlined "The Story of the Gold Curve So Far" and you can find it at FT Alphaville here:

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/07/21/287566/the-story-of-the-gold-curve-so-far/

marie a écrit:

l'excellent Mogambo guru

http://www.la-chronique-agora.com/articles/20100721-2911.html

J'adore Mogambo...et là, tu as raison, il est particulièrement inspiré

Gordon Long: Gold swaps signal the road map ahead



http://www.gata.org/node/8851


Submitted by cpowell on Fri, 2010-07-23 15:29. Section: Daily Dispatches
11:27a ET Friday, July 23, 2010
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Gordon T. Long, editor of the Tipping Points letter, examines the mysterious gold swaps recently undertaken by the Bank for International Settlements and speculates that they are steps toward a new international reserve currency partially backed by gold. Whether Long is right or wrong, his commentary is a reminder that central banking continues to seek to run the world by stealth and with contempt for democracy, the major central banks all having seats on the BIS board and all failing to provide an explanation of what's going on. In this the central bankers can rely on the absolute lack of curiosity of respectable gold market analysts and financial journalists, who either fail to put critical (or any) questions to central bankers or settle for refusals to answer.
Long's commentary is headlined "Sultans of Swap: Gold Swaps Signal the Road Map Ahead" and you can find it at the Tipping Points Internet site here:

http://home.comcast.net/~lcmgroupe/2010/Article-Sultans_of_Swap-Gold_Swaps.htm

alors là !!!!!!!! ===> .d'apres le financial times ... c'est encore plus simple que ce qu'on avait supposé jusque ici ... LIMPIDE, même ...

(et ça se tient autant que les hypothéses précédentes ....
mais tant qu'à prendre la BRI au mot ... qui corrigeait le FT en précisant qu'il s'agissait d'un swap avec des banques commerciales, ça ne manque pas de sel ... )

ce swap BRI proviendrait de comptes non alloués de banques commerciales européennes ( bnp, sté générale , HSBC)

380 T de comptes non alloués, ça fait du monde ... mais bon .. admettons ..la connerie n'a pas de limites ..



autrement dit de lingots de particuliers inconscients qui auraient fait gardienner leur lingots en comptes non alloués, chez la maffia européenne du cartel ..
bnp, sg et hsbc .. excusez du peu ..

bref, on est vraiment en plein dedans ..
spolliation à tout les étages , y compris des gens qui croient s'etre protégé et avoir bien fait les choses .. en ayant stocké des lingots à leur banque habituelle ... oui, mais non ..
on ne fait pas ça n'importe comment ... et surtout pas sur des comptes non alloués .. la preuve ...

y'en a qui vont chialer ...ici on a prévenu depuis longtemps sur ce pb ..
mais n'empeche, ça fout en rogne de voir à quel point on avait raison et qu'ils se foutent du monde



http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2010/07/european-banks-lent-their-customers.html

Citation :

Although it does not appear until almost the end of this article in the Financial Times, BIS Gold Swaps Mystery Unravelled, the source of the gold provided in the dollar swaps with BIS is coming from customers of about 10 European banks who are holding their gold at the banks in 'unallocated accounts.'




<BLOCKQUOTE>"The gold used in the swaps came mainly from investors's deposit accounts at the European commercial banks. Some investors prefer to deposit their gold in so-called "allocated accounts", which restrict the custodian bank's ability to use the gold in their market operations by assigning them specific bullion bars. But other investors prefer cheaper "unallocated accounts", which give banks access to their bullion for their day-to-day operations. </BLOCKQUOTE>

ci dessous l'aricle du FT in extenso


http://www.gata.org/node/8875
Gold in BIS swaps said to have come from looted bank customers' deposits


Submitted by cpowell on Fri, 2010-07-30 23:57. Section: Daily Dispatches
8:07p ET Friday, July 30, 2010
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
If you want to believe the Financial Times, the 346 tonnes of gold swaps recently undertaken surreptitiously by the Bank for International Settlements were a matter of the BIS' requiring three of the world's biggest banks to pledge gold as collateral against U.S. dollar deposits placed with them by the BIS so the BIS could earn a little interest. According to the FT, the banks also needed to raise cash and so were glad to obtain it by collateralizing the BIS' deposits with gold.
The FT's latest account of the transaction, published Thursday and appended here, is surely the account the BIS would like the world to settle for as curiosity about the swaps is increasing and raising concerns about the grotesque unaccountability of central banks. And as the mouthpiece of the financial establishment, the FT surely was only too happly to convey this unofficial official story. But it's a doubtful story and raises questions of its own.


For why would the BIS deposit money with banks considered so shaky that they would have to be required to pledge gold to secure the deposits? Wouldn't U.S., British, German, or French government bonds provide sufficient income and security for the BIS' funds? The BIS' annual report suggests that the bank already holds such bonds:
http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2010e8.pdf
By depositing money at the three banks -- HSBC, Societe Generale, and BNP Paribas -- according to the FT -- was the BIS really hoping to earn get premium yields from the great business those banks have done lending on condominiums in Florida, Nice, and Madrid?
And remarkably, according to the FT the gold obtained by the BIS as collateral from the three banks didn't really belong to the banks at all. Rather, as the GATA Dispatch suggested sarcastically three weeks ago (http://www.gata.org/node/8799), the gold was essentially looted from the three banks' own gold depositors.
The FT reports: "The gold used in the swaps came mainly from investors' deposit accounts at the European commercial banks. Some investors prefer to deposit their gold in so-called 'allocated accounts,' which restrict the custodian banks' ability to use the gold in their market operations by assigning them specific bullion bars. But other investors prefer cheaper 'unallocated accounts,' which give banks access to their bullion for their day-to-day operations."
At least this part of the FT's story has the ring of truth and confirms what, among others, GATA board member Adrian Douglas and GATA consultant James Turk, founder of GoldMoney, have been warning for some time: that if you own "unallocated gold," you don't really own gold at all but have only a tenuous claim against a counterparty that likely is working against you from the start. In the case of the BIS gold swaps, the tenuous claim is against financial institutions the BIS considers so unreliable that it won't loan them money unless they turn over their customers' gold as security, thereby proving their unreliability.
The FT story doesn't address what is to become of the collateralized gold just transferred to the BIS, but the section of the BIS' annual report cited at the link above shows that the BIS is constantly trading gold and gold futures and options, just as the journalist Edward Jay Epstein reported in his long profile of the BIS published in Harper's magazine in November 1983. (See http://www.gata.org/node/8773.) So odds are that the gold purchased from or supposedly kept at those commercial banks by gold investors is now being used by the international banking system to suppress gold's price against the interest of the investors who think they own it.
The FT's story is headlined "BIS Gold Swaps Mystery Is Unravelled." The BIS can only hope that people will think so, and the FT can only hope that its story will get people to stop pestering it and other financial news organizations to do some serious, documented, on-the-record journalism instead of playing along with this manipulative, confidential source-based disinformation.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Commtitee Inc.
* * *
BIS Gold Swaps Mystery Is Unravelled
By Jack Farchy and Javier Blas in London
Financial Times, London
Thursday, July 29, 2010
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3e659ed0-9b39-11df-baaf-00144feab49a.html
Three big banks -- HSBC, Societe Generale, and BNP Paribas -- were among more than 10 based in Europe that swapped gold with the Bank for International Settlements in a series of unusual deals that caused confusion in the gold market and left traders scratching their heads.
The mystery of who was involved in deals with the BIS, the bank for central banks, and what they were doing, has become clearer.
The Financial Times has learnt that the swaps, which were initiated by the BIS, came as the so-called "central banks' bank" sought to obtain a return on its huge US dollar-denominated holdings. The BIS asked the commercial banks to pledge a gold swap as guarantee for the dollar deposits they were taking from the Basel-based institution.
When news of the swaps, which were disclosed in a note to the BIS's latest annual report, circulated among traders this month, it caused a sharp fall in the gold price, sending bullion to what was then six-week lows. Gold has since fallen further: It was trading at $1,164 an ounce on Thursday.
Some analysts speculated that the swap deals were a surreptitious bailout of the European banking system ahead of last week's publication of stress tests. But bankers and officials have described the transactions as "mutually beneficial."
"The client approached us with the idea of buying some gold with the option to sell it back," said one European banker, referring to the BIS.
Another banker said: "From time to time, central banks or the BIS want to optimise the return on their currency holdings."
Nonetheless, two central bank officials said some of the commercial banks also needed the US dollar funding and were keen to act as a counterparty with the BIS. The gold swaps began in December and surged in January, when the Greek debt crisis erupted and European commercial banks were facing funding problems.
Jaime Caruana, head of the BIS, told the FT the swaps were "regular commercial activities" for the bank.
In a short note in its annual report, published at the end of June, the BIS said it had taken 346 tonnes of gold in exchange for foreign currency in "swap operations" in the financial year to March 31.
In the same fiscal year, the BIS took three times the amount of currency deposits it had taken the previous year as central banks around the world became concerned about using commercial banks for their deposits and turned to the Basel institution.
In a gold swap, one counterparty, in this case a bank, sells its gold to the other, in this case the BIS, with an agreement to buy it back at a later date.
The gold swaps were, in effect, a form of collateral against the US dollar deposits placed by the BIS with commercial banks. Gold is widely regarded as one of the safest assets, but has not been widely used as collateral in the past. Mr Caruana described the transactions as "loans with a guarantee."
Investors have bought physical gold in record amounts during the past two years and deposited it in commercial banks. European financial institutions are awash with bullion and some are trying to pledge gold as a guarantee.
George Milling-Stanley, managing director for government affairs at the industry-backed World Gold Council, said: "The gold swaps commercial banks carried out with the BIS demonstrate the effectiveness of gold as an asset class, because even in the depths of the worst liquidity crisis in living memory, institutions with access to gold were able to make use of it to generate dollar liquidity. The issue also feeds right into the current debate among Asian central banks about the lack of assets suitable for use as cross-border collateral."
Last year, CME Group, the world's largest derivatives exchange, allowed investors to use gold futures as collateral for some operations. Other institutions, such as central banks, had begun using and requesting gold as collateral in the past two years as perceptions of counterparty risk have risen, bankers and officials said.
The gold used in the swaps came mainly from investors' deposit accounts at the European commercial banks. Some investors prefer to deposit their gold in so-called "allocated accounts," which restrict the custodian banks' ability to use the gold in their market operations by assigning them specific bullion bars. But other investors prefer cheaper "unallocated accounts," which give banks access to their bullion for their day-to-day operations.
Officials said other commercial banks obtained the gold from the lending market, borrowing bullion from emerging countries' central banks.

Douglas commente l'article en donnant de larges extraits.. et ça change tout .. pour ceux qui comme moi n'ont pas ou lire cet article à accés réservé .. ( que je viens de dupliquer dans le post précédent )
les banques en question ont bel et bien emprunté le gold via les bc

Citation :

The FT says: "Officials said other commercial banks obtained the gold from the lending market, borrowing bullion from emerging countries' central banks."

So the tripartite nature of this shady transaction is confirmed -- central banks were a source for the real gold. But the real gold wasn't the "gold" that the BIS received as a swap for $14 billion.

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http://www.gata.org/node/8876

Adrian Douglas: What's unravelling is gold price suppression


Submitted by cpowell on Sat, 2010-07-31 02:41. Section: Daily Dispatches
By Adrian Douglas
Friday, July 30, 2010
Yesterday the Financial Times published an article headlined "BIS Gold Swaps Mystery Is Unravelled" in an attempt to clarify the recently discovered gold swaps undertaken by the Bank for International Settlements with European commercial banks:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3e659ed0-9b39-11df-baaf-00144feab49a.html
I recently published my interpretation of these gold swaps and concluded that they were most likely a secret bailout of one or more bullion banks that do not have enough physical gold to meet burgeoning demand:
http://www.gata.org/node/8803
Lawyers always tell their clients to shut up and not speak to the press because the more they say without proper legal consultation, the more likely they are to incriminate themselves. One has to wonder why lawyers at the BIS didn't offer similar advice to the spokespeople at the BIS, because they have opened their mouths and inserted both feet.
The FT reports that "Jaime Caruana, head of the BIS, told the FT the swaps were 'regular commercial activities' for the bank."

The FT also reports that "'the client approached us with the idea of buying some gold with the option to sell it back,' said one European banker, referring to the BIS."
So we are led to believe that the BIS just casually called up some commercial banks and proposed a "regular commercial" activity of a 346-tonne gold swap.
The only problem with this story is that this is the biggest gold swap in history. It was anything but a "regular commercial activity."
The FT tries to palm off the biggest gold swap in history as just a matter of the BIS earning a little return on $14 billion.
The FT says it has learned that the swaps, which were initiated by the BIS, came as the so-called "central banks' bank" sought to obtain a return on its huge U.S. dollar-denominated holdings. The BIS asked the commercial banks to pledge a gold swap as guarantee for the dollar deposits the banks were taking from the Basel-based institution.
And GATA has learned that the moon is made of Swiss cheese.
In central banking $14 billion is chump change. The U.S. Treasury auctions between $70 billion and $130 billion of Treasury debt very other week. Only a few weeks ago the European Central Bank created a trillion dollars out of thin air to defend the euro amid the Greek debt crisis.
There are two sides to a swap transaction, but one would have to have the IQ of a grapefruit to believe that the important part of this transaction is a piffling $14 billion and not the 346 tonnes of gold that make it the biggest gold swap in history.
But the BIS has given us another piece of information.
The FT says: "Three big banks -- HSBC, Societe Generale, and BNP Paribas -- were among more than 10 based in Europe that swapped gold with the Bank for International Settlements in a series of unusual deals that caused confusion in the gold market and left traders scratching their heads."
I had assumed in my last article that only one bullion bank was involved, but we now find that more than 10 banks were involved. The first on the list is none other than HSBC, which along with JPMorganChase holds 95 percent of all gold and precious metals derivative positions among U.S. commercial banks as reported to the U.S. Treasury Department. HSBC and JPMorganChase are also holding a massive short position in gold and silver on the New York Commodity Exchange. Further, HSBC is the custodian of the gold that is supposedly backing the exchange-traded fund GLD.
In my analysis of the BIS swaps I postulated that a bullion bank had made a swap with one or more central banks and had obtained bullion in exchange for $14 billion. I further postulated that the bullion bank made another swap with the BIS whereupon the BIS gave the bank $14 billion but the bullion bank did not hand over the gold to the BIS but instead credited the BIS with a ledger entry of gold in the BIS unallocated gold account. This would allow the bullion bank to have real gold to meet burgeoning demand while the accounts would show that the same gold had been credited to the BIS.
The FT says: "Officials said other commercial banks obtained the gold from the lending market, borrowing bullion from emerging countries' central banks."
So the tripartite nature of this shady transaction is confirmed -- central banks were a source for the real gold. But the real gold wasn't the "gold" that the BIS received as a swap for $14 billion. The FT explains:
"The gold used in the swaps came mainly from investors' deposit accounts at the European commercial banks. Some investors prefer to deposit their gold in so-called 'allocated accounts,' which restrict the custodian banks' ability to use the gold in their market operations by assigning them specific bullion bars. But other investors prefer cheaper 'unallocated accounts,' which give banks access to their bullion for their day-to-day operations."
But unallocated gold is not gold at all. It is not gold that has been deposited that is loaned to someone else. It is gold that has been deposited that is loaned simultaneously to many other people. I have estimated that for each ounce in their vaults the bullion banks have loaned or sold 45 ounces.
So the FT's story appears to confirm my thesis that the BIS has been credited with 346 tonnes of ledger-entry gold in the BIS unallocated gold accounts held with the bullion banks. This makes the BIS an "unsecured creditor" of the bullion banks as defined by the London Bullion Market Association's description of "unallocated account" holders.
The FT story suggests that at least 10 bullion banks needed physical gold bullion desperately. This looks like a rerun of the 1960s London Gold Pool fiasco where central banks dishoarded gold to meet massive investor demand in a futile attempt to maintain a gold price of $35 per ounce.
I have spelled out in recent articles that there is a run on the bullion banks has begun and is gaining momentum. Investors and institutions are realizing that "unallocated gold" is not gold at all but just an unsecured promise for gold. So investors and institutions are starting to demand delivery of their metal, and as there is only 1 ounce backing each 45 ounces that are claimed, the situation is turning into what will be a short squeeze of epic proportions.
The FT says: "Investors have bought physical gold in record amounts during the past two years and deposited it in commercial banks. European financial institutions are awash with bullion and some are trying to pledge gold as a guarantee."
As Jeffrey Christian of CPM Group has explained, the "physical" gold market is in fact a misnomer as that market is actually a paper market backed by only a small amount of physical gold:
http://www.cpmgroup.com/free_library1/HEDGING_AND_DERIVATIVES/Bullion_Ba...
So investors have bought a record amount of "physical gold," which is actually paper gold that they have never seen, and only about 2.3 percent of what has been sold actually exists. The bullion banks are "awash" with liabilities for the record amount of gold they are supposed to be holding. Investors are now distrusting the bullion banks and are asking for delivery, so is it surprising that the record amount of "physical gold" sales has led to a record gold swap being transacted to give the bullion banks liquidity?
The International Monetary Fund has been surreptitiously selling gold at a clip of around 15 tonnes per month since February without any official announcements and without disclosing the recipients. This is another sign that the bullion banks are in serious trouble.
When 45 ounces of gold are sold but only 1 ounce is sourced, the result is a massive suppression of the gold price. But the converse is also true: When 45 ounces of gold are demanded for every 1 ounce that is in the vault, the price explosion is beyond imagination.
What is unravelling is not the mystery of the BIS gold swaps, as claimed by the Financial Times, but the unravelling of the gold price suppression scheme itself.
-----
Adrian Douglas is a member of GATA's Board of Directors and editor of the Market Force Analysis letter (www.MarketForceAnalysis.com), which provides indications of market turning points and good times to enter, take profits, or exit a market. Subscribers receive bi-weekly bulletins on the markets of their choice.

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un excellent topo de John Embry sur ces fumeux et fort discrets swaps

un bien bel outil que les BC occidentales ne se privent pas d'user ..


imaginez un peu l'astuce ..

BC 1 échange ses réserves d'or avec BC 2

BC1 vend l'or de BC2 et réciproquement ...

et l'or ainsi vendu reste officiellement comptabilisé dans les réserves officielles de BC1 et 2 ... puisque ni BC1, ni BC2 n'a vendu une seule once de ses propres réserves ..
elle est pas belle la vie?

résumé rapide de l'article

l'auteur revient sur le fameux et récent swap de la BRI ( 380 T) et partage l'analyse de A. Douglas, rapportée plus haut :

les bullions banques impliquées ont fait un swap avec une ( ou plusieurs ) BC et obtenu du physique en échange de leur 14 $ milliards.
ces mêmes bullions banks ont ensuite fait un swap avec la BRI, qui leur a donc rendu les 14 $ milliards.
mais au lieu de donner à la BRI, les 380 T, les bullions banks lui ont remis une promesse de propriété........ sur des comptes non alloués ..
très joli tour de passe passe !

le genre de tour de passe passe que Jeffrey Christian du CPM Group va jusquà revendiquer comme normal et d'usage courant et reconnu sur gold market ..
puisqu'il écrit lui même que par les mécanisme du gold papier, une même once d'or est échangée 100 fois sur le LBMA.

Douglas avec son multiplicateur de "seulement" 45 , ne peut pas être taxé d'exagération !

bref, ya pas assez d'or réel pour satisfaire la demande .. et le système papier est au bord de l'implosion

inutile de vous faire un dessin sur les implications extremement haussières que cela a pour le cours de l'or .. et sa nécessaire réintroduction ( d'une manière ou d'une autre ) dans le système monétaire international


http://www.sprott.com/Docs/InvestorsDigest/2010/MPLID_082710_pg283Emb.pdf

Marie, on l'avait déjà signalé ici ; c'était l'un des sketch d'Adrian Douglas que nous avions traduits tous les deux, c'était bien plus marrant !

https://000999.forumactif.com/les-hard-investors-f7/hedging-swaps-gold-du-fmi-et-autres-tragies-comedies-t10821.htm

absolument Dup .. excellents sketchs de Douglas, excellemment traduits par nos soins !



d'après Mineweb la BRI se serait encore goinfré un peu plus de gold ..
la journaliste est allé piocher ses infos dans les stats du FMI.. sans se poser d'avantage de questions .. sur l'opacité- fiabilité de l'info .. pas plus que sur l'origine et la nature de cet or

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page33?oid=112890&sn=Detail&pid=102055
BIS collects a lot more gold, but from whom?


Submitted by cpowell on Wed, 2010-10-13 14:18. Section: Daily Dispatches
10:15a ET Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
It's 10 a.m. Eastern time -- do you know where your gold is?
MineWeb's Rhona O'Connell writes that it might have been moved to the Bank for International Settlements, whose gold holdings are now reported to have increased substantially over the last few months, quite apart from the sensational and huge but mysterious BIS gold swap already much discussed.
Of course O'Connell's report at MineWeb takes for granted that there's no point in seeking information on the point directly from the source, the BIS itself. Apparently she didn't bother calling the bank's public information office to get an explanation. No, everything about official gold is tightly concealed -- nothing to see here, please move along.
O'Connell's report at MineWeb is headlined "BIS Taking in More Gold -- Who Are the Counterparties This Time?" and you can find it here:



http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page33?oid=112890&sn=Detail&pid=102055

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

la BRI détient 409 Tonnes d'or sous forme de préts, en augmentation de 18% par rapport à l'année dernière ( +63 T)

pourquoi et avec qui ces swaps ont'ils été négocié ? on n'en sait rien ..les journalistes ne sont pas curieux ...

parallélement, ses réserves d'or passent de 120 à 119 T, cette année


BIS Says Gold Held in Swap Contracts Rose 18% as of March 31


The Bank for International Settlements held 409 metric tons of bullion related to gold swaps contracts as of March 31, up 18 percent from a year earlier.
The BIS held 346 tons of gold in connection with swap operations through March 31 last year, the Basel, Switzerland- based bank said in its annual report today. Under swap contracts, the bank exchanges currencies for physical gold, which it must return at the end of the contract.
The bank’s gold investment assets stood at 119 tons, down from 120 tons a year earlier, it said.
Emerging market countries continue to be the most vulnerable to inflation, as economic recovery and supply disruptions drive food and commodity prices higher, BIS said. Advanced economies may be affected by inflation via global supply chains as producers in emerging markets pass on higher labor costs to consumers, the bank said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Kolesnikova in London at mkolesnikova@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-26/bis-says-gold-held-in-swap-contracts-rose-18-as-of-march-31.html

les banques centrales retirent 635 Tonnes d'or de la BRI, en 2010.
c'est le plus gros mouvement de cette ampleur depuis 10 ans !

plutôt que de préter directement, les BC avaient l'habitude de le faire par l'entremise de la BRI ( certainement en rapport avec les fameux swaps dont il est question en début de file )

on assiste donc en ce moment, à la fois à une chute des ventes des BC occidentales, mais aussi à un ralentissement conséquent des préts d'or de ces mêmes BC

******************

Central banks pull most gold in a decade from BIS
Submitted by cpowell on 05:36PM ET Thursday, July 7, 2011. Section:


Daily Dispatches
Do they want to get it back in their own vaults before the fiat currencies hit the fan?
* * *
By Jack Farchy
Financial Times, London
Thursday, July 7, 2011
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ce24275a-a8b5-11e0-b877-00144feabdc0.html
Central banks have pulled 635 tonnes of gold from the Bank for International Settlements in the past year, the largest withdrawal in more than a decade.
The move, disclosed in the BIS's annual report, marks a sharp reversal from the previous year, when central banks added to deposits of gold at the so-called "bank for central banks" rather than lending it directly to the private sector amid growing concerns over counterparty risk.
Central banks and other official institutions collectively hold about 30,000 tonnes of bullion in their reserves, and many seek to earn an income on their gold by lending it out, just as any other currency.
However, demand to borrow gold has fallen sharply in the past decade, driving interest rates on gold lending to record lows.
Hedging by gold miners, which is typically structured to involve borrowing gold, was traditionally the largest source of demand. But since miners have cut back their hedging programmes to almost zero, the gold lending market, which is mediated by large bullion-dealing banks, has dwindled.
Lending gold for six months earned a rate of 0.1 per cent on Thursday, according to benchmark market assessments published by the London Bullion Market Association.
In response to e-mailed questions, the BIS confirmed that the fall in the value of gold deposits disclosed in its annual report represented "a shift in customer gold holdings away from the BIS."
"The Bank's gold deposit liabilities declined by around 635 tonnes between 31 March 2010 and 31 March 2011," it added. Comparison with previous annual reports showed the withdrawal was the largest in at least 10 years.
Traders said the move of gold holdings away from the BIS probably reflected a combination of factors.
Some central banks, unimpressed with the paltry interest rates on offer, may have taken the decision not to lend their gold at all.
"My perception is there's less and less gold being put out by the central banks into the gold market," said one banker.
However, some central banks may have rediscovered an appetite for lending gold to the private sector, which can earn higher rates depending on the credit rating of the counterparty and structure of the transaction.
"As commercial banks' balance sheets have started to look better, there may have been a switch back to lending to the private sector," said Philip Klapwijk, executive chairman of GFMS, a consultancy.
"Yield enhancement can be a powerful inducement to a central banker," an industry executive added.

le questionnement sur les 111 T d'or de la grèce n'est donc plus d'actualité ... puisque c'est sorti du "compte swap" de la Bri, récupéré par la grèce

et Julian D.W Philips en prend note egalement

http://news.goldseek.com/GoldForecaster/1310605200.php


j'essaie de voir à quel montant s'élévent les avoirs Bri ..., compte tenu de cette baisse inédite de 635 T d'or ...

avoirs BRI fin 2010 500.7 T ( source Julian D.Philipps )

mars 2011 : -635 Tonnes

solde négatif ... -134 tonnes d'or

hola, je sais pas ce que c'est que ce binz... faudrait vérifier pour les 500.7 T avant de se raconter des histoires...

voir les § concernant les préts d'or, apparemment en diminution de 409 à 355 tonnes
ainsi que les tonnages d'or entreposés par les BC auprès de la Bri ( sans accord de swap ) : en baisse sensible de 727 à 567 tonnes d'or : ça fait quand même 160 T d'or en moins dans les coffres de la très cartelienne banques des banques




BIS Annual Report 2011/12

Hi Bill,
The BIS published its 2011/12 annual report yesterday.

It reported a profit of SDR 758.9 million. A gain of SDR 78.7 million arose on the sale of 3 tonnes of gold (3 tonnes from 119 tonnes including gold loans) and there was a gain of SDR 34.7 million from the release of a provision set up in prior years on a gold loan that was repaid. Hence the profit arising from the sale of physical gold and the repayment of gold loans was SDR 113.5 million. Hence 15% of their reported profit came from this source.

In addition there was a net revaluation gain on the remaining gold investment assets of SDR 551.8 million. This together with the SDR 113.5 million gold-related profit noted above represented 41% of the reported Comprehensive Income of SDR 1,607.2 million for the year. Comprehensive Income essentially means profit plus unrealised net valuation gains.

This year's BIS annual Report is 210 pages long and includes extensive commentaries on aspects of the financial crisis. The financial statements themselves cover 68 pages and as far as I can see nowhere is the importance of its gains on gold and gold-related transactions highlighted in the report. Imagine the furore if Coca Cola published their annual report and chose not to highlight the contribution to their profits from Coke!

Yet again the BIS have not followed a balanced approach to exposing clearly the importance of gold to their gains in the year.

However it is heartwarming to see, as in previous years, the following statement in note 14 to the accounts: "Gold is considered by the Bank to be a financial instrument." I seem to recollect that Mr. Bernanke has indicated that he does not agree with that statement, but who would argue with the BIS on such a definition, given their role in the global financial set up?

The accounts throw little new light on the gold banking business of the BIS. Gold held by the BIS with other central banks in gold sight accounts (unallocated gold) has fallen in volume to 922 tonnes at 31st March 2012 from 1,136 tonnes. Gold deposited with the BIS in sight accounts by central banks has also fallen. Gold swaps are still a feature, but the tonnage has fallen to 355 tonnes from 409 tonnes a year ago. You may recall that the gold swaps were first reported in the 2009/10 financial year and at the time there was conjecture that these indicated a tightness of gold supply.

Gold bars held in earmarked gold accounts (allocated gold) amounted to 323 tonnes at 31st March 2012 (2011: 297 tonnes). It is clear based on these accounts that gold deposited by central banks with the BIS in gold sight accounts and not subject to a swap has fallen to 567 tonnes from 727 tonnes. This is supportive to the view, as is the increase in the tonnage of gold deposited with the BIS in earmarked accounts, that central banks are taking more care over the security of their gold holdings.
Best wishes,
Bob

More from that BIS

À propos those BIS gold swaps


Posted by Izabella Kaminska on Jun 25 12:56.

In 2010, when the BIS first revealed that it held gold swap agreements worth SDR8.16bn (representing 346 tonnes of gold) the revelation knocked the gold market.

That’s because rather than making money (or yield) from lending out its gold — as the BIS usually did — it had become cost effective for the BIS to lend out currency against gold collateral instead.

It was possibly the most famous example of a "cash for gold" loan in the world — with the BIS acting as the ultimate bullion pawnbroker.

So has anything changed this year?

Looking at the BIS results in 2012, seemingly no. From the annual report:

Included in "Gold" is SDR 12,262.8m (355 tonnes) of gold (2011: SDR 11,940.5m; 409 tonnes) tha the Bank holds in connection with its gold swap contracts. Under such contracts the Bank exchanges currencies for physical gold, and has an obligation to return the gold at the end of the contract.

The gold swap sums seem pretty constant, implying that whoever pawned the gold in the first place has yet not repaid the loan — although the sum has clearly come down since 2011, when 409 tonnes was pawned.

Another gold statistic that’s worth highlighting — one which has been rising steadily year to year — is the amount of gold the BIS is holding on a custody basis, gold which thus sits off-balance sheet.

Categorised as "gold bars held under earmark" the figure hit SDR11.18bn in 2012, up from SDR8.68bn in 2011 and from seemingly nothing in 2007 with the measure first appearing in the report in 2008. We’ve charted the development of the metric as follows:

This we believe represents the amount of gold which is being held in segregated rather than unallocated pools by the BIS. Indeed, the BIS notes:

The financial instruments listed above are deposited with external custodians, either central banks or commercial institutions.

As to what this implies, we haven’t the foggiest. We just thought it was an interesting trend.

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2012/06/25/1058101/a-propos-those-bis-gold-swaps/