Asia challenges the world's gold reserves - London.
Singapore opens its own gold storage facility, competing with Hong Kong. The main rival is the Bank of England, which historically holds thousands of tons of foreign gold.
New Asian centers emerged due to a decrease in central banks' confidence in the dollar and euro and an increase in the share of gold in reserves. Countries repatriating bullion from abroad: storing them at home is safer because it eliminates the risk of embargo.
The reason for prior storage abroad is the legacy of Bretton Woods and liquidity. Gold in London or New York can be sold immediately, pledged or leased without transportation. The Bank of England remains the most popular place of storage (57% of respondents).
The main disadvantage is the political risks in the embargo (eg: Venezuelan gold, which has not been issued by the Bank of England for several years).
Russia keeps all gold reserves at home. Moscow was the first to reduce the share of the dollar and the euro in favor of gold and the yuan, which brought dividends.