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BIS annual report again confirms GATA's accuracy with bank's gold swaps
3:08p ET Thursday, August 1, 2024
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
GATA consultant Robert Lambourne today provides below his monthly report on the gold swaps maintained by the central bank of the central banks, the Bank for International Settlements, and superficially the report may seem ordinary, disclosing a small increase in BIS gold swaps from May to June, 7 tonnes, from 109 to 116.
Lambourne is too modest to highlight the most important development with the BIS' accounts. That is, the bank's annual report, dated March 31 --
https://www.bis.org/about/
-- has again confirmed the accuracy of his calculations of the bank's gold swaps, which constitute the bank's intervention in the gold market on behalf of member central banks. The BIS gives a gold swaps total only once a year, in its annual report, even as Lambourne strives to calculate the monthly changes. At the bottom of Page 194 this year's annual report shows 72 tonnes of gold swaps as of March 31, and Lambourne had estimated 71.
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The BIS' constant trading in gold swaps is perhaps the best proof that surreptitious gold market manipulation by at least one central bank continues as a matter of policy. Maybe that's why no mainstream financial news organizations report about the swaps, or, indeed, about anything the BIS does. Only GATA's Lambourne does.
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
CPowell@GATA.org
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BIS gold swaps rose from 109 to 116 tonnes in June
By Robert Lambourne
Thursday, August 1, 2024
The June statement of account for the Bank for International Settlements has recently been published:
https://www.bis.org/banking/balsheet/statofacc240630.pdf
From this it is possible to estimate the volume of gold swaps undertaken by the BIS at the month end. The estimated swap volume is 116 tonnes at June 30. This compares to an estimate of 109 tonnes for May 31, for an increase of seven tonnes.
Table 1 below sets out the historical level of monthly gold swaps estimated since August 2018. As is evident from Table 1 there is still a considerable level of gold being traded via these swaps. The level of gold swaps is down significantly from the 501 tonnes estimated in January 2022 but seemingly remains quite volatile, suggesting their use to cover shorter term trading requirements.
To repeat the point made in these GATA reports, it seems that these swaps are undertaken by the BIS for one or more of its central bank members with the swapped gold being accounted for as being held in a BIS-registered sight account at a central bank. Given what is happening in the gold market generally, it appears reasonable to assume that the U.S. Federal Reserve is the BIS customer for these gold swap transactions.
The evidence strongly suggests that the source of this gold is bullion banks and the likelihood is that the metal comes from gold registered as being held by gold exchange-traded funds.
A more detailed report on the use of gold swaps was published to cover transactions in December 2023: It covers some of the history in more detail:
https://www.gata.org/node/
The recently published 2023-24 BIS annual report --
https://www.bis.org/about/areport/areport2024.pdf
-- supports GATA's estimate of gold swaps as of March 31 as shown in Table 1. The BIS said it had undertaken 72 tonnes in gold swaps. GATA's original estimate was 71 tonnes.
The BIS Annual Report contains information that also confirms certain assumptions used to estimate the swap volumes. This includes confirmation that the BIS continues to hold 102 tonnes of its own gold. The annual report also provides strong support, via its reporting on transactions with related parties, that the source of the swapped gold is bullion banks rather than central banks.
However, the BIS continues to offer no explanation for why it is still undertaking gold swaps. The GATA report from December 2023 cited above offers some comments on possible reasons and historical comments made by the BIS when it first reported gold swaps being made, in its annual report for 2009-10.
Table 1 — Gold swaps estimated by GATA
from BIS monthly statements of account
Month ….. Swaps
& year … in tonnes
June-24 .... /116
May-24 .... /109
Apr-24 ... /78
Mar-24 .... /72
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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