BIS Gold Swaps Rose 10 Tons From February to April

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/balsheet/statofacc240430.pdf

https://www.bis.org/banking/balsheet/statofacc240331.pdf

From the statements it is possible to estimate the volume of gold swaps undertaken by the BIS at the month-ends: around 71 tons for March and 78 for April, a total increase of 10 tons from the 68 tons of swaps estimated in February.

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/23016

Swaps estimated by GATA from
BIS monthly statements of account

Month .... Swaps
& year ... in tons

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

ep-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 tons, but the BIS annual report states 77 tons. It is believed that slightly different gold prices account for the difference.

± The estimate originally reported by GATA was 487 tons, but the BIS annual report states 490 tons, It is believed that slightly different gold prices account for the difference.

** The estimate originally reported by GATA was 332 tons, but the BIS annual report states 326 tons. 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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