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It's the most valuable treasure we Germans have: 3,401 tonnes of pure gold -- about 1,800 euros for each of us. Absolutely disaster-proof, divided between high-security vaults in Frankfurt, Paris, London, and New York. And the German Federal Bank (Bundesbank) isn't looking after it!
The incredible gold scandal! On the 19th of November 2011, BILD magazine reported that the German Federal Bank last looked at our gold reserves in New York in 2007, and has thereby even alarmed the Federal Audit Office. (Inquiries are ongoing.)
A clear breach of the law, leading accountancy lawyer Prof. Jorg Baetge told BILD. "A tally of the ingots has to be made at least every three years." The Federal Bank hasn't done that.
Sloppiness with tangible consequences: The gold reserves (currently worth about 147 billion euros) make up the "considerable" portion (says Baetge) of more than 17 percent of the Federal Bank’s annual accounts. Are the Federal Bank's annual accounts for recent years therefore wrong?
Alarmed by the BILD report, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) member of parliament and expert on international politics Philipp Missfelder wanted to know more.
Involved in talks at the United Nations in New York, Missfelder wants to check the part of the German gold reserves stored there at the Federal Reserve Bank.
According to the BILD report, he is demanding the list of gold ingots from the president of the German Federal Bank, Jens Weidmann.
Missfelder told BILD: "I was shocked. First they said there is no list. Then there were lists, but they were secret. Then they told me that inquiries endanger the trust between the German Federal Bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve."
When the German Federal Bank found out about the BILD investigation into German state gold, its head of communications, Michael Best even tried to block the journalist's visit and the coverage in BILD: "Against this background I ask you to understand that the German Federal Bank cannot further support your request for a visit."
What does the Federal Bank want to hide?
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Another interesting part of the current inquiry by Philipp Missfelder. This guy is the prototype of a party apparatchik. He was the head of the youth organization of the conservative party (CDU) and is now a member of the German parliament (Bundestag). He cares about one thing: having a successful carreer. He has absolutely no principles. If he were to find out shocking facts, he would probably be intimidated and therefore wouldn't report his findings. :doodoo:
Probably his party chose him to do this investigation for his corruptability.
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Jim Sinclair had predicted many European countries would want their gold back, which is being stored by the Fed in the US. This movement is beginning to take hold in Switzerland and Germany as well as other countries. When asked about his prediction beginning to take place, Sinclair responded, “It had to happen because we all ask ourselves the question, ‘Where does the gold come from on these attempts at intervention?’ Because it’s not simply paper gold, it’s also in the cash market. There is a concern that the gold that’s being used to intervene might not be our (US) gold.
Basically they (Germany, Switzerland and other countries) are now asking the question, where is the gold coming from? There are two possibilities, Fort Knox or the Federal Reserve seller, in the cash sense. Fort Knox, nobody knows what’s there.
Everybody knows what’s at the Fed, other people’s gold. The trend that we discussed a long time ago which is really turning into a modest torrent, is to take back gold. I mean the truth is what do the Germans need the Fed to store their gold for? Are they afraid France will invade? It doesn’t make any sense.”
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In recent weeks pressure has been building on the German Bundesbank after the tabloid newspaper Bild started a media campaign questioning the location of Germany’s gold reserves. The country’s Federal Court of Auditors has started investigating official data on the subject, and will soon present its findings to the Bundestag's Budget Committee.
At the start of the week the Bundesbank itself commented on this investigation – reconfirming that its official gold reserves are stored at the New York Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the Banque de France. It has been five years since the bank’s last gold audit, and Bild’s campaign is aimed at forcing greater transparency on this issue. Given the difficult situation currently facing the eurozone, the timing of the newspaper’s campaign is perhaps not surprising.
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Rumours are circulating that the court of auditors will recommended that the gold is returned to Germany. Though it’s doubtful that Berlin will be prepared to act on this advice, it does raise the intriguing thought of Angela Merkel following in Charles de Gaulle’s footsteps, and demanding delivery of gold from America. One wonders what kind of answer she would get.
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For those not familiar with him, Schacht is generally given credit for ending in 1923 the Weimar Republic hyperinflation and putting Germany once again on a sound monetary footing, commendable feats which earned him the nickname “The Old Wizard”. He did this first as Commissioner of the Currency for the Finance Ministry and thereafter as President of the Reichsbank. For these achievements, he received worldwide acclaim as well as fame, if that word accurately describes the popular attention and respect given to a skilled central banker.
Schacht’s autobiography contains many stories and anecdotes, including those of his meetings with dozens of famous people. But Schacht’s account of a meeting with Benjamin Strong is one I found particularly important, shocking even.
Strong was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from its creation in 1914 until his death in 1928. Strong, Schacht, Montague Norman of England and Émile Moreau of France were the most powerful and influential central bankers of their time.
Strong was in effect the head of the Federal Reserve because the New York bank back then dominated the system. Reforms in the 1930s diminished somewhat the power of the New York bank, but to this day it remains vitally important because it alone of the 12 Federal Reserve banks transacts with other central banks. For example, there is reportedly some Bundesbank gold stored in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s vault near Wall Street, which is it often said contains the world’s largest accumulation of gold.
It is the same vault Schacht visited during one of his trips to New York to meet with Benjamin Strong. Here is how Schacht relates this remarkable event....Another amusing incident arose from the fact that the Reichsbank maintained a not inconsiderable gold deposit in the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. Strong was proud to be able to show us the vaults which were situated in the deepest cellar of the building and remarked:
“Now, Herr Schacht, you shall see where the Reichsbank gold is kept.”
While the staff looked for the hiding place of the Reichsbank gold we went through the vaults. We waited several minutes: at length we were told: “Mr. Strong, we can’t find the Reichsbank gold.”
Strong was flabbergasted but I comforted him. “Never mind: I believe you when you say the gold is there. Even if it weren’t you are good for its replacement."
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