We have stated repeatedly that with repatriation and/or audit requests completed or in progress by Venezuela, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, The BOE and the Fed suddenly find themselves in a heap of trouble as the situation (and confidence that the Central banks actually still hold the tungsten gold reserves on deposit) is rapidly deteriorating.
More on the Fed’s non-compliance with German requests to view/inspect their own gold below.
Der Spiegel reports that nearly half of Germany’s entire gold reserves are still held (supposedly) 5 floors below the NY Fed:
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York continues to hold 1,536 metric tons of German gold — or nearly half of Berlin’s reserves. This enormous hoard of gold is stored in the fifth subfloor of the bank’s building on Liberty Street, 25 meters (80 feet) below street level, and 15 meters below sea level. According to the bank’s website, the vault rests on the bedrock of Manhattan Island.
The Fed has reportedly denied German requests to view their own gold reserves, ‘in the interest of security’:
Tourists are allowed to venture below street level to see the vault. After descending in an elevator, they stand in front of an enormous steel cylinder that pivots like a door in a 140-ton steel-and-concrete frame. But not even the owners are allowed to view their own gold. According to the Federal Audit Office report, the Fed explained that “in the interest of security and of the control process” no “viewings” are possible.
Of the 9 compartments supposedly storing German gold, German officials were finally allowed to briefly view a few bars from a single compartment in 2011:
Finally, in 2007, “following numerous enquiries,” Bundesbank staff members were allowed to see the facility, but they reportedly only made it to the anteroom of the German reserves.
In fact, auditors from the Bundesbank made a second visit in May 2011. This time one of the nine compartments was also opened, in which the German gold bars are densely stacked. A few were pulled out and weighed. But this part of the report has been blacked out — out of consideration for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Unlike the US financial MSM, the German media is willing to discuss not only the question of whether the Federal Reserve has absconded with Germany’s gold, but also the risk of a collapse of a fully fiat currency:
The debate over a collapse of strictly paper-based currency is experiencing a renaissance — as is the dispute over the gold reserves. Even Green Party financial expert Gerhard Schick has joined the fray: “I think the question of how much gold is available in an emergency is a valid concern.”
Not surprisingly, Bundesbank officials are attempting to smooth over German concerns about their gold reserves, with board member Thiele snidely remarking that he took a look inside of one of the vaults at the NY Fed recently, and “There was no paper in there, just gold.“: