Gold Delivery Times from Bank of England/ London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Now 4 to 8 WEEKS!

Deliveries of Gold Bullion from the Bank of England and the London Bullion Market Association have suddenly gone from  just a few days to now four (4) to eight (8) WEEKS for people to get their physical Gold!

This may  be the biggest news in the Gold Market since then-UK-Prime Minister Gordon Brown pre-announced the sale of half  the UK's gold.  This is serious; perhaps VERY serious, for the Bankers, especially the Bank of England.

This news began with a story in the Financial Times of London (FT) titled "Gold Stockpiling in New York Leads to London Shortage."  The story revealed that the wait time to withdraw gold from the Bank of England (BoE) has risen sharply as fears of Trump Tariffs drive shipments to  the U.S.A.

Why this is serious is because, according to the Bank of England's December 1, 2024 report, they hold 5365 metric tons of Gold, which is the equivalent of 172.5 Million Ounces.

Yet the BoE has apparently "Leased-out" a LOT more Gold than they are holding.

Investors know that leasing out more than Banks hold is the engine of the (endless) supply of "Paper" Gold. 

The banks sell/lease the same "ounce" of Gold to hundreds of different buyers, HOPING they won't demand delivery.  The Bank can pocket the fees on all those non-existent ounces of gold as long as not too many people demand physical delivery of it. 

One of the results of this arbitrage is that Bankers can keep the price of Gold SUPPRESSED because the shear volume of "paper" gold sales dwarfs the sales of physical-delivery Gold.

Is Bank of England DEFAULTING?

According to the article in the FT "A surge of shipments to the US has lead to a shortage in London, as Traders amass an $82 Billion stockpile in New York over fears of Trump Administration Tariffs.   Then, the kicker:  "The wait to withdraw bullion stored in the Bank of England vault has risen from a few days, to four to eight weeks, according to people familiar with the process as the Central Bank STRUGGLES to keep up with demand."

Sources in the field say "people can't get their hands on Gold because so much has been shipped to New York . . .  and the rest is stuck in the Que.  Liquidity in the London market has been . . . diminished." according to one Executive in the Bullion field.

The problem here is simple: You either have the Gold, or you don't.

Worsening the situation is that the BoE DECLINED TO COMMENT.

This is now confirmation that the Bank of England is in big trouble.

The FT article goes on to report "Since November's U.S. election, Gold Traders and Financial Institutions have moved 393 Metric tons" which isn't even ten percent of what the Bank of England CLAIMS it has.  So why the four week to eight week delay now??????

These Gold shipments have reportedly been delivered to the COMEX Commodity Exchange vaults in New York, driving up COMEX inventory levels nearly 75% to 926 Tons, the highest level since August, 2022.

The FT goes on to report "Total Gold flows into the US could be far higher than the COMEX numbers reflect  because there are likely to have been many additional shipments to private vaults in New York owned by HSBC and JP Morgan."  Both of those banks also declined to comment.

Market players are asking a simple question: If the Bank of  England publicly reported they held 5365 Metric Tons of Gold in their Vaults as of December 1, and only 393 tons have been shipped to New York, why is the Bank having trouble delivering Gold for four to eight weeks?

This is one of the biggest stories in the Gold Market in maybe 30 years.  This situation could expose a hideous reality: What if the Bank of England has NO GOLD?

First, where did it go, and second, this could utterly smash the entire "paper" market for Gold.  After all, who in their right mind will buy "paper" gold by believing anyone claiming to be holding tons of Gold if the Bank of England lied about __theirs???__   

The "paper" Gold market would likely implode if it comes out that BoE has no Gold left.   An implosion of the paper market would free the Gold market from "paper" influence, and send the price of the precious metal skyrocketing.

Many, many people around the world are taking serious notice of this situation.  Very hard questions are now being asked of the Bank of England, and a LOT of "paper" gold investors are now wondering if they will ever get the gold they "bought" but allowed the BoE to hold?