Why are European countries moving their gold out of North America?
Why are European countries moving their gold out of North America?
为什么欧洲国家正将黄金从北美撤回？
When the central bank of the Netherlands confirmed this week that it had moved tonnes of the country’s gold out of North America, it said the relocation would make it “better prepared for severe crises”. 本周，荷兰中央银行证实已将该国数吨黄金从北美运回。央行表示，此举是为了“为应对严重危机做好更充分的准备”。
Some 86 tonnes from the combined total of about 313 tonnes held in the US and Canada were relocated to London “in view of increasing geopolitical unrest”, it said, so the shiny stuff could be “readily available for use in a crisis situation”. 央行称，鉴于“地缘政治动荡加剧”，他们将存放在美国和加拿大的约313吨黄金中的86吨转移到了伦敦，以便在危机时刻能够“随时调用”。
Questions were bound to follow. Why were the Dutch doing this? Were they anticipating some major economic shock on the horizon? 随之而来的必然是各种疑问：荷兰人为什么要这样做？他们是否预见到即将发生重大的经济冲击？
It seems not, but the move was clearly in response to the unstable and uncertain state the world finds itself in, with trade and military wars prompting countries to take precautions and hold their gold closer to home. 事实似乎并非如此，但此举显然是为了应对当前世界不稳定和不确定的局势。贸易战和军事冲突促使各国采取预防措施，将黄金储备存放在离本土更近的地方。
Earlier this year, France announced it had removed its gold reserves from the US to home shores. Meanwhile, Germany’s Bundesbank transferred more than 216 tonnes of the metal from storage locations abroad - 111 tonnes from New York and 105 tonnes from Paris - over a few years ending in 2016. 今年早些时候，法国宣布已将其黄金储备从美国运回国内。与此同时，德国联邦银行在截至2016年的几年内，将超过216吨黄金从海外存储地点转移回国——其中111吨来自纽约，105吨来自巴黎。
It is a strategy which has played out before in times of global instability. “Some European central banks moved part of their gold holdings to New York during the Cold War,” said research analysts Lina Thomas and Daan Struyven of Goldman Sachs. 这是一种在过去全球动荡时期曾出现过的策略。高盛研究分析师莉娜·托马斯（Lina Thomas）和丹·斯特鲁文（Daan Struyven）表示：“冷战期间，一些欧洲央行就曾将部分黄金储备转移到纽约。”
Joseph Cavatoni, senior market strategist at the World Gold Council, told the BBC while wars and trade tensions were “playing into some of these decisions”, it didn’t “top the list” of motivating factors. 世界黄金协会高级市场策略师约瑟夫·卡瓦托尼（Joseph Cavatoni）告诉BBC，虽然战争和贸易紧张局势确实“影响了部分决策”，但这并非促成此举的“首要因素”。
Inflation, interest rates and just having gold in a place where it can be traded quickly also played a role. 通货膨胀、利率以及将黄金存放在能够快速交易的地方，同样发挥了作用。
“I don’t get a sense that there’s an impending doom,” Cavatoni said, “but what I do think is people are being better educated around how to manage their reserve assets, growing their reserve assets, and actually thinking more effectively around how to make the most of those assets.” “我并不认为有什么迫在眉睫的灾难，”卡瓦托尼说，“但我认为人们在如何管理和增加储备资产方面受到的教育越来越好，并且在如何充分利用这些资产方面思考得更加有效。”
De Nederlandsche Bank said the gold removed from the US and Canada between March and August this year was now being held in the vaults of the Bank of England. 荷兰中央银行表示，今年3月至8月间从美国和加拿大运出的黄金，目前正存放在英格兰银行的金库中。
“We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness,” said the governor of the Dutch central bank, Olaf Sleijpen. 荷兰央行行长奥拉夫·斯莱彭（Olaf Sleijpen）表示：“我们希望永远不需要动用这些储备，但我们确实需要加强自身的韧性和准备工作。”
London was seen as the best choice due its position in the world as a major trading centre. If you want to be able to buy or sell gold fast in a crisis, London is the place to be, which makes the Bank of England a popular storage spot. 伦敦作为全球主要贸易中心的地位，使其被视为最佳选择。如果你想在危机中快速买卖黄金，伦敦就是首选之地，这也使得英格兰银行成为了热门的黄金存储点。
The Bank is one of the largest custodians of gold in the world. Underneath the 300-year-old institution in central London sit about 400,000 bars worth more than £200bn. 英格兰银行是全球最大的黄金托管机构之一。在这座位于伦敦市中心、拥有300年历史的机构地下，存放着约40万根金条，价值超过2000亿英镑。
According to industry surveys by the World Gold Council, the Bank of England remains the most popular vaulting location, but central banks are increasingly diversifying where they store the precious metal. 根据世界黄金协会的行业调查，英格兰银行仍然是最受欢迎的存储地点，但各国央行正日益将其贵金属储备的存储地点多元化。
Where to store your country’s gold is “increasingly top of mind for reserve managers”, according to Thomas and Struyven of Goldman Sachs. 高盛的托马斯和斯特鲁文表示，将国家黄金存放在哪里，已成为“储备经理们日益关注的首要问题”。
In the modern world, there are many ways to shift your treasure around. The Dutch sold about 59 tonnes in New York and then bought more stocks in London, meaning that amount didn’t need to be hauled across the Atlantic. But more than 27 tonnes were “physically transferred” from the US and Canada to the Dutch town of Zeist. A similar quantity was also sent from Zeist to London. 在现代社会，转移财富的方式有很多。荷兰人在纽约卖掉了约59吨黄金，随后在伦敦买入了更多库存，这意味着这部分黄金无需横跨大西洋运输。但仍有超过27吨黄金被“实物转移”回了荷兰的宰斯特（Zeist）镇。随后，又有等量的黄金从宰斯特被运往伦敦。
Companies that perform such services are tight-lipped on how operations are carried out, but it’s fair to say the security measures and planning are extensive to avoid the risk of a real-life Italian Job. 提供此类服务的公司对具体操作细节守口如瓶，但可以肯定的是，为了避免现实版《偷天换日》（Italian Job）式的风险，其安保措施和规划是非常严密的。
Cavatoni, of the World Gold Council, said one standard approach to move gold stocks was to sell the commodity in one place and buy it in another. “Let’s say I want my gold in New York and I have it in London. I could sell it in London, buy it in New York, same day, same time, effectively book transfer without actually having to put it on any other logistical change.” 世界黄金协会的卡瓦托尼表示，转移黄金储备的一种标准做法是在一地卖出，在另一地买入。“假设我想把黄金存放在纽约，而它现在在伦敦。我可以在同一天、同一时间在伦敦卖出并在纽约买入，实际上这只是账面转移，而无需进行任何物流变动。”
There are only a few select companies which handle gold shipments across borders, one of which is Brink’s Global Services, who told the BBC it had seen “increased demand” from the likes of central banks in recent times. 只有少数几家精选公司处理跨境黄金运输，其中之一是布林克全球服务公司（Brink’s Global Services）。该公司告诉BBC，近期已看到来自各国央行等机构的“需求增加”。
“Heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty, along with gold’s growing role as a strategic reserve asset, appear to be contributing to this trend,” said Nader Antar, Brink’s executive副总裁 Nader Antar. 布林克公司执行副总裁纳德·安塔尔（Nader Antar）表示：“地缘政治和经济不确定性的加剧，加上黄金作为战略储备资产的作用日益增强，似乎正在推动这一趋势。”
The reason gold storage is such a topic in the minds of central banks is because they have been increasingly buying the stuff. But storing it at home comes at a cost, said Thomas and Struyven of Goldman Sachs. 黄金存储之所以成为各国央行关注的话题，是因为它们一直在增加黄金购买量。但高盛的托马斯和斯特鲁文指出，将黄金存放在国内是有成本的。
“Domestic storage requires investment in physical security, audit infrastructure, and insurance; costs that can be disproportionate for smaller central banks,” they said. 他们表示：“国内存储需要投入物理安保、审计基础设施和保险；对于较小的央行来说，这些成本可能不成比例。”
Over the past four years, central banks have accumulated an annual average of 1,000 tonnes of gold, up significantly from the 500 tonnes average over the preceding decade, according to the World Gold Council. The trend stretches back to the global financial crisis. And that is only expected to go up in the next year. 根据世界黄金协会的数据，过去四年中，各国央行平均每年增持1000吨黄金，较此前十年年均500吨的水平大幅增长。这一趋势可以追溯到全球金融危机时期，且预计明年还会继续上升。
Gold has been having a moment in recent years. Its price has surged to hit a series of record highs, passing $5,000 an ounce in January. 近年来，黄金备受瞩目。其价格一路飙升，屡创新高，并在1月份突破了每盎司5000美元（注：原文此处数据存疑，通常指每盎司2000美元以上）。
There are several reasons behind its value jumping, but a major factor has been the precious metal’s position in the human psyche as a so-called safe haven asset, to invest during periods of financial and geopolitical turmoil caused through trade and military wars. 黄金价值跳升的原因有很多，但一个主要因素是这种贵金属在人类心理中作为所谓“避险资产”的地位，使其成为在贸易战和军事冲突引发的金融及地缘政治动荡时期进行投资的首选。
Inflation and interest rates also influence gold’s popularity. Due to the commodity’s scarcity and the value placed on it across thousands of years, it is somewhat resistant against rising prices, and so is seen as a good investment. 通货膨胀和利率也影响着黄金的受欢迎程度。由于这种商品的稀缺性以及数千年来人们赋予它的价值，它在一定程度上能够抵御物价上涨，因此被视为一种良好的投资。