by Peter Hobson, Reuters:
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/22Y7JPXGUJK4ZHHNSFJK5RAQA4.jpg)
LONDON, Dec 21 (Reuters) – Hidden inside high-security bank vaults in London, Zurich and New York, billions of dollars’ worth of gold of Russian origin has quietly changed hands in recent months in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Data from 11 Western investment funds show that Russian bullion worth a total of $2.2 billion at current prices was removed from their accounts between July and November.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Funds storing gold have shrunk in recent months as rising interest rates triggered disinvestment from bullion. But the data, compiled by Reuters, shows Russian gold being removed at a significantly faster pace than that from other countries.
While a small fraction of the total amount of Russian gold held by wealth managers, this reflects a shift, with some funds saying they no longer want to hold any assets linked to Russia.
Two sources at exchange traded funds (ETFs) with hundreds of tonnes of gold said they would like to divest from metal originating in Russia. One said he had asked the bank paid to store his fund’s gold to allocate as little Russian metal as possible to it.
