On January 5th I sent an email to the head of market operations at the
Banque de France, Mr Gautier. You can read the questions I asked him about
the activity of the French Central Bank in the gold market here.
On January 12th I received the following answer from Mr Gautier :
"Good evening, Sir,
Thank you for your email. I understand you have in your possession the
two presentations/speeches to which you refer. I cannot expand beyond their
contents because Banque de France does not make public the management of
its foreign exchange reserves. Furthermore, we very seldom give interviews.
Let me take this occasion to offer you my best wishes for 2015,
Cordially,
Alexandre Gautier
Banque de France"
First I would like to thank Mr Gautier for his answer since I wasn't
expecting any.
Now, this is a direct and official confirmation that the French
Central Bankdoes not want to make public the management of its foreign
exchange reserves, and thus remain secretive about its
operations in the gold market.
Not surprising to me after more than 6 years studying the gold market but
still, this raise one question : why a bank that is supposed to be public (Nationalised
by the french government 1936-1945) doesn't want to make public any of
its activities in the gold market ?
Sure the French Central Bank is independent from the state since 1993 but
it's still a public bank to my knowledge. I might be too small a player to
receive detailed answers from the Bank, but if the French Central Bank is
public, and if gold is not a strategic reserve (barbarous relic), then French
people should be able to receive answers about the activity of their central
bank in the gold market and by extension about the french gold reserves.
Where are France's gold reserves held at this moment and when was the last
audit performed ?
I will keep on asking questions.
Fabrice Drouin Ristori
Founder/CEO Goldbroker.com
Twitter : @fabricedrouin
