【文章标题】：Why are European countries moving their gold out of North America?
为何欧洲国家正将黄金运离北美？
【文章正文】：
Why are European countries moving their gold out of North America?
为何欧洲国家正将黄金运离北美？
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”.
荷兰央行本周证实已将数百吨黄金运离北美，称此举能使其”为严重危机做好更充分准备”。
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”.
该行表示，鉴于地缘政治动荡加剧，原存放于美国和加拿大的313吨黄金中约86吨被转移至伦敦，以确保这些贵金属能”在危机时刻随时可用”。
Questions were bound to follow. Why were the Dutch doing this? Were they anticipating some major economic shock on the horizon?
疑问接踵而至：荷兰为何采取此举？是否预见到重大经济冲击将至？
It seems not, but the move was clearly in response to the unstable and uncertain state the world finds itself in, with trade and military wars prompting countries to take precautions and hold their gold closer to home.
答案似乎是否定的，但这一行动显然是对当前世界不稳定局面的回应——贸易与军事冲突正促使各国未雨绸缪，将黄金储备转移至更靠近本土的位置。
Earlier this year, France announced it had removed its gold reserves from the US to home shores. Meanwhile, Germany’s Bundesbank transferred more than 216 tonnes of the metal from storage locations abroad - 111 tonnes from New York and 105 tonnes from Paris - over a few years ending in 2016.
今年早些时候，法国宣布已将黄金储备从美国运回本土。而德国央行在截至2016年的数年间，已将216吨海外存储的黄金（纽约111吨、巴黎105吨）转运回国。
It is a strategy which has played out before in times of global instability. “Some European central banks moved part of their gold holdings to New York during the Cold War,” said research analysts Lina Thomas and Daan Struyven of Goldman Sachs.
这种策略在全球动荡时期早有先例。高盛分析师莉娜·托马斯和丹·斯特鲁文指出：“冷战期间，部分欧洲央行曾将黄金储备转移至纽约。”
Joseph Cavatoni, senior market strategist at the World Gold Council, told the BBC while wars and trade tensions were “playing into some of these decisions”, it didn’t “top the list” of motivating factors.
世界黄金协会高级市场策略师约瑟夫·卡瓦托尼向BBC表示，尽管战争与贸易紧张关系”影响了部分决策”，但并非首要动因。
Inflation, interest rates and just having gold in a place where it can be traded quickly also played a role.
通胀压力、利率变化，以及确保黄金处于可快速交易的位置同样发挥作用。
“I don’t get a sense that there’s an impending doom,” Cavatoni said, “but what I do think is people are being better educated around how to manage their reserve assets, growing their reserve assets, and actually thinking more effectively around how to make the most of those assets."
"我并不认为末日将至，“卡瓦托尼说，“但人们确实在更深入地学习如何管理储备资产、扩大储备规模，并更高效地思考如何最大化利用这些资产。”
De Nederlandsche Bank said the gold removed from the US and Canada between March and August this year was now being held in the vaults of the Bank of England.
荷兰央行表示，今年3月至8月间从美加运出的黄金现存储于英格兰银行金库。
“We expect that we will never need to use them, but we do need to strengthen our resilience and preparedness,” said the governor of the Dutch central bank, Olaf Sleijpen.
荷兰央行行长奥拉夫·斯莱彭表示：“我们预计永远无需动用这些黄金，但必须增强自身的抗风险能力和准备状态。”
London was seen as the best choice due its position in the world as a major trading centre. If you want to be able to buy or sell gold fast in a crisis, London is the place to be, which makes the Bank of England a popular storage spot.
伦敦因其全球主要交易中心的地位被视为最佳选择。若需在危机中快速买卖黄金，伦敦是最理想的地点，这也使英格兰银行成为热门存储场所。
The Bank is one of the largest custodians of gold in the world. Underneath the 300-year-old institution in central London sit about 400,000 bars worth more than £200bn.
该行是全球最大黄金托管机构之一。其位于伦敦市中心的三百年历史金库中，存放着约40万根金条，价值逾2000亿英镑。
According to industry surveys by the World Gold Council, the Bank of England remains the most popular vaulting location, but central banks are increasingly diversifying where they store the precious metal.
世界黄金协会行业调查显示，尽管英格兰银行仍是最受欢迎的存储地，但各国央行正日益分散这种贵金属的存放地点。
Where to store your country’s gold is “increasingly top of mind for reserve managers”, according to Thomas and Struyven of Goldman Sachs.
高盛的托马斯与斯特鲁文指出，黄金存储地选择正”日益成为储备管理者的首要考量”。
In the modern world, there are many ways to shift your treasure around. The Dutch sold about 59 tonnes in New York and then bought more stocks in London, meaning that amount didn’t need to be hauled across the Atlantic.
现代世界有多种黄金转运方式。荷兰通过在纽约出售约59吨黄金，继而在伦敦购入等量储备，避免了跨大西洋运输。
But more than 27 tonnes were “physically transferred” from the US and Canada to the Dutch town of Zeist. A similar quantity was also sent from Zeist to London.
但仍有超过27吨黄金从美加”实体转运”至荷兰泽斯特镇，另有等量黄金从泽斯特运往伦敦。
Companies that perform such services are tight-lipped on how operations are carried out, but it’s fair to say the security measures and planning are extensive to avoid the risk of a real-life Italian Job.
提供此类服务的公司对操作细节守口如瓶，但可以肯定其安保措施与运输规划极为周密，以防发生现实版《偷天换日》式的风险。
Cavatoni, of the World Gold Council, said one standard approach to move gold stocks was to sell the commodity in one place and buy it in another. “Let’s say I want my gold in New York and I have it in London. I could sell it in London, buy it in New York, same day, same time, effectively book transfer without actually having to put it on any other logistical change.”
世界黄金协会的卡瓦托尼称，黄金转移的标准操作是”在A地出售并在B地购入”。“假设我想把伦敦的黄金转到纽约，只需同日同时进行买卖操作，通过账面转移即可，无需实体物流。”
There are only a few select companies which handle gold shipments across borders, one of which is Brink’s Global Services, who told the BBC it had seen “increased demand” from the likes of central banks in recent times.
全球仅少数几家特许公司从事跨境黄金运输，布林克全球服务便是其中之一。该公司向BBC表示，近期央行类客户的”需求显著增长”。
“Heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty, along with gold’s growing role as a strategic reserve asset, appear to be contributing to this trend,” said Nader Antar, Brink’s executive vice president.
布林克执行副总裁纳德·安塔尔认为：“地缘政治与经济不确定性加剧，加上黄金作为战略储备资产的重要性提升，共同推动了这一趋势。”
The reason gold storage is such a topic in the minds of central banks is because they have been increasingly buying the stuff. But storing it at home comes at a cost, said Thomas and Struyven of Goldman Sachs.
高盛的托马斯与斯特鲁文指出，央行如此关注黄金存储问题，源于其持续增持行为。但本土存储需要代价：
“Domestic storage requires investment in physical security, audit infrastructure, and insurance; costs that can be disproportionate for smaller central banks,” they said.
”本土存储需投入实体安防、审计设施及保险，这些成本对小型央行可能过高。”
Over the past four years, central banks have accumulated an annual average of 1
过去四年间，各国央行年均增持1（原文截断）