Why are European countries moving their gold out of North America?

Image source, Getty Images By Michael Race Business reporter , Reporting from New York Published 1 hour ago When the central bank of the Netherlands confirmed this week that it had moved tonnes of the country's gold out of North America, it said the relocation would make it "better prepared for severe crises".

Some 86 tonnes from the combined total of about 313 tonnes held in the US and Canada were relocated to London "in view of increasing geopolitical unrest", it said, so the shiny stuff could be "readily available for use in a crisis situation".

Questions were bound to follow. Why were the Dutch doing this? Were they anticipating some major economic shock on the horizon?