To be fair, it's an ongoing process started in 2005 and which should finish in 2028. I doubt there was much political (tho the whole tariffs stuff probably made their job/decision easier when the gold price started diverging between NY and European markets). At this point it was cheaper than flying the gold to CH for recasting.

(1784 tons moved to standardized holding over the years, 134 tons are now left to convert -- all stored in Paris)

"We do not do this as a political statement —we simply want our gold ingots to exist next week."

Still, a win does signal a dumb process behind the trade as the smart move would be to hedge with future options and/or futures.

But then again, maybe they did hedge the trade and it's just not the right time or place to report it.