(Reuters) - Germany's federal auditors called on Monday for the central bank to physically inspect the gold reserves it stores at foreign central banks because the high value holdings have never been fully checked.
Germany's Bundesbank holds nearly 3,400 tonnes of gold valued at almost 133 billion euros $174 billion (108.66 billion pounds). Like many central banks, it keeps part of its reserves in vaults at foreign central banks, with some held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Banque de France and the Bank of England.
The German Federal Court of Auditors, which oversees the government's financial management, said in a report to the Bundestag lower house of parliament's budget committee that the Bundesbank should, in accordance with commercial law, carry out a physical audit at regular intervals on an appropriate sample.
The Bundesbank does not consider it necessary to count the gold bars or check their gold content itself and instead considers written assurances sent by its partner central banks sufficient.
The federal auditors said in the report that the Bundesbank should negotiate the right to physically inspect its reserves with the three foreign central banks and added that the Bundesbank had already begun to implement this recommendation.
But in a letter seen by Reuters, Bundesbank board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele wrote to Dieter Engels, president of the German Federal Court of Auditors, saying that while the central bank was discussing further inspection rights, this was not so that it could carry out the kind of checks the auditors wanted.
Thiele said such stocktaking was not necessary from a legal perspective and was also not possible at the foreign depositories.
Reuters
Germany's Bundesbank holds nearly 3,400 tonnes of gold valued at almost 133 billion euros $174 billion (108.66 billion pounds). Like many central banks, it keeps part of its reserves in vaults at foreign central banks, with some held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Banque de France and the Bank of England.
The German Federal Court of Auditors, which oversees the government's financial management, said in a report to the Bundestag lower house of parliament's budget committee that the Bundesbank should, in accordance with commercial law, carry out a physical audit at regular intervals on an appropriate sample.
The Bundesbank does not consider it necessary to count the gold bars or check their gold content itself and instead considers written assurances sent by its partner central banks sufficient.
The federal auditors said in the report that the Bundesbank should negotiate the right to physically inspect its reserves with the three foreign central banks and added that the Bundesbank had already begun to implement this recommendation.
But in a letter seen by Reuters, Bundesbank board member Carl-Ludwig Thiele wrote to Dieter Engels, president of the German Federal Court of Auditors, saying that while the central bank was discussing further inspection rights, this was not so that it could carry out the kind of checks the auditors wanted.
Thiele said such stocktaking was not necessary from a legal perspective and was also not possible at the foreign depositories.
Reuters
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