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Robert Lambourne: BIS gold swaps rose 10 tonnes from February to April
By Robert Lambourne
Friday, May 31, 2024
Gold swaps undertaken by the Bank for International Settlements appear to have risen slightly in March and April, according to the bank's monthly statements of account for those months, both published this week:
https://www.bis.org/banking/
https://www.bis.org/banking/
From the statements it is possible to estimate the volume of gold swaps undertaken by the BIS at the month-ends: around 71 tonnes for March and 78 for April, a total increase of 10 tonnes from the 68 tonnes of swaps estimated in February.
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The table below sets out the historical level of monthly gold swaps estimated since August 2018. As is evident from the table, there is still a considerable level of gold being traded via the BIS swaps.
To repeat the point long made in these reports, it seems that these swaps are undertaken by the BIS with one or more of its central bank customers, with the swapped gold being accounted for as held in a BIS-registered sight account at a central bank.
Given what is happening in the gold market generally, it seems likely that the Federal Reserve is the BIS' customer for these gold transactions. The evidence strongly suggests that bullion banks are the source of the gold, and it probably comes from gold registered as held by gold exchange-traded funds.
A more detailed report on the use of gold swaps was published by GATA to cover transactions in December 2023:
https://www.gata.org/node/
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Swaps estimated by GATA from
BIS monthly statements of account
Month .... Swaps
& year ... in tonnes
Apr-24 .... 78
Mar-24 .... 71
Feb-24 .... 68
Jan-24 .... 117
Dec-23 .... 121
Nov-23 .... 100
Oct-23 .... 68
Sep-23 .... 96
Aug-23 .... 129
Jul-23 .... 103
Jun-23 .... 87
May-23 .... 188
Apr-23 .... 135
Mar-23 .... 77*
Feb-23 .... 136
Jan-23 .... 103
Dec-22 .... 0
Nov-22 .... 105
Oct-22 .... 7
Sep-22 .... 57
Aug-22 .... 75
Jul-22 .... 56
Jun-22 .... 202
May-22 .... 270
Apr-22 .... 315
Mar-22 .... 358
Feb-22 .... 472
Jan-22 .... 501
Dec-21 .... 414
Nov-21 .... 451
Oct-21 .... 414
Sep-21 .... 438
Aug-21 .... 464
Jul-21 .... 502
Jun-21 .... 471
May-21 .... 517
Apr-21 .... 472
Mar-21 .... 490±
Feb-21 .... 552
Jan-21 .... 523
Dec-20 .... 545
Nov-20 .... 520
Oct-20 .... 519
Sep-20 .... 520
Aug-20 .... 484
Jul-20 .... 474
Jun-20 .... 391
May-20 .... 412
Apr-20 .... 328
Mar-20 .... 326**
Feb-20 .... 326
Jan-20 .... 320
Dec-19 .... 313
Nov-19 .... 250
Oct-19 .... 186
Sep-19 .... 128
Aug-19 .... 162
Jul-19 .... 95
Jun-19 .... 126
May-19 .... 78
Apr-19 .... 88
Mar-19 .... 175
Feb-19 .... 303
Jan-19 .... 247
Dec-18 .... 275
Nov-18 .... 308
Oct-18 .... 372
Sep-18 .... 238
Aug-18 .... 370
* The estimate originally reported by GATA was 78 tonnes, but the BIS annual report states 77 tonnes. It is believed that slightly different gold prices account for the difference.
± The estimate originally reported by GATA was 487 tonnes, but the BIS annual report states 490 tonnes, It is believed that slightly different gold prices account for the difference.
** The estimate originally reported by GATA was 332 tonnes, but the BIS annual report states 326 tonnes. It is believed that slightly different gold prices account for the difference.
GATA uses gold prices quoted by USAGold.com to estimate the level of gold swaps held by the BIS at month-ends.
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Robert Lambourne is a retired business executive in the United Kingdom who consults for GATA about the involvement of the Bank for International Settlements in the gold market and U.S. government debt.
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