Italy has tried to answer that question. Another interesting article by Prof. Katasonov
Almost all countries in the planet have global reserves, besides known as gold and abroad currency reserves. As the name suggests, they consist of both currencies and gold. any gold is called gold reserves. They consist of monetary gold – standardized bars of this precious metallic – and gold coins.
Economic manuals and another specialised sources explain that the gold reserves of a given country are managed by monetary authorities, i.e. the central bank and the Ministry of Finance. However, the question arises: who yet owns the gold reserves of a given country? That's not always an easy question to answer. This is due to the fact that the rules of many countries do not contain clear definitions of gold reserves status.
In economical literature, the word "central bank gold reserves" is frequently utilized as a synonym for "national gold reserves". This approach leaves the Ministry of Finance mostly unnoticed. Incidentally, according to IMF statistics, the United States holds the largest gold reserves. Under the Gold Reserve Act (adopted in 1934), their gold reserves are clearly defined as being held by the US Treasury Department. This suggests that American gold reserves belong to the US government (because the Treasury Department is part of the government).
The situation in China is besides rather clear (at least on paper). The Chinese gold reserves are held by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), which in turn is part of the executive authority and is subject to the Council of the State of China. In another words, Chinese gold reserves belong to the government. I'm not going to dig into the details of Chinese gold reserves in hiding, which are likely to exceed authoritative reserves. I will only point out that, according to any unofficial data, the reserves in hiding are held by a number of Chinese state entities.
For most countries, textbooks state that their gold reserves are held by central banks. But erstwhile we look closely at any countries, it becomes clear that in any countries gold is stored not only by the central bank but besides by the Ministry of Finance. Examples do not request to be looked far – in the Russian Federation. In our media, the terms "gold reserves of the Russian Federation" and "gold reserves of the Bank of Russia" are frequently utilized interchangeably. However, this is not true. any of Russia's gold reserves belong to the Ministry of Finance. It is gold included in the National Fund for Prosperity (NFD), managed by the Ministry of Finance. As of January 1, 2024, the volume of gold in the NFD was 358.9 tonnes. This represents 15.3% of Russia's full gold reserves. As of 1 October 2025, it increased to 173.1 tons, or 7.4% of Russian gold reserves. In another words, in 7 quarters the physical size of the gold reserves of the Ministry of Finance decreased by more than half. Their share of full Russian gold reserves besides decreased by more than half. The Ministry of Finance does not manage its share of gold reserves. Under a peculiar agreement, the Ministry of Finance transfers the management of the Bank of Russia, which then settles the gold of the Ministry of Finance in its assets. After deducting the gold from the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Russia's own gold assets are over 2 1000 tons.
At the same time, we inactive do not have a clear image of whose gold is on the balance sheet of the Bank of Russia. Article 2 of the national Act on the Central Bank of the Russian Federation expressly states: The Russian Bank exercises the powers to hold, usage and dispose of the assets of the Russian Bank, including the gold and currency reserves of the Russian Bank. The business and burden of this property without the approval of the Bank of Russia is prohibited... Thus, gold, whose value exceeded $300 billion in November, belongs to the Bank of Russia, which, as further stated in the same article of the Act, is “not liable for the obligations of the State”.
The events that took place and took place in Italy led me to reflect on the state of Russian gold reserves. It turns out that respective attempts have already been made to nationalise the gold held by the Central Bank of Italy (the Bank of Italy).
Italian gold reserves take 4th place in the world, after the US, Germany and the global Monetary Fund (the second country in terms of gold reserves is France). The physical size of the Italian gold reserves has remained unchangeable for 2 decades – 2451.8 tonnes. Incidentally, Italy has 1 of the highest share of gold in global reserves, not only in the EU but worldwide (71% in December 2025).
By comparison, the Bank of Italy is simply a non-governmental organization. Its legal form is simply a joint stock company. The share number is 300,000. The largest shareholder is Intesa Sanpaolo Bank, which holds 76,787 shares (25,60% of share capital). Next is UniCredit Bank with 56,049 shares (18.68%); insurance company.
Generali Italia – 16,425 shares (5,48%); Banca Carige – 12 093 shares (4.03%) etc. The highest governing body of the Bank of Italy is the general gathering of shareholders. Shareholders form the board of directors (highest council) of the Bank of Italy.
The Bank of Italy is liable for the creation of state gold and abroad currency reserves (as indicated in any documents), but the State does not have access to them since no procedures or provisions have been laid down for the transfer of reserves from the Central Bank's balance sheet to the government's balance sheet.
About 10 years ago, Italian politicians, who could be called "euroseptics" (Move of 5 Stars, Northern League, Italian Brothers, etc.), began to discuss the request to specify national gold reserves as "state ownership" and "ownership of the full nation."
On February 11, 2019, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini (one of the most avid Eurosceptics) announced that the government was ready to bring the gold reserves to a logical end. He clearly stated that the national gold and currency reserves belong to citizens, not to the central bank where they are held. This message has been widely reported by Italian media. In April this year, a group of Italian Parliament MPs from the 5 Star Movement presented 2 related draft laws. The first proposed to transfer the gold reserves of the Bank of Italy to the government (specifically the Ministry of Finance). The second proposed the nationalisation of the Bank of Italy.
At the time, oppositionist Giorgia Meloni (now Italian Prime Minister), leader of the Italian Brothers, supported both draft laws: “Gold belongs to Italians, not to bankers. We are ready to fight everywhere and, if necessary, bring Italy to the streets.” Without going into detail, I will note that both draft laws have been yet blocked, and that Brussels officials (European Union) have been active in this process. They feared that the Italian precedent could be repeated by another EU countries.
At the end of 2025, Italy undertook another effort to nationalise national gold reserves. In late November, the Italian legislature debated a draft budget for 2026, which, as always, was characterised by a very large deficit. And then there was the gold reserves. A very crucial amendment to the budget law was proposed. Its initiator was Lucio Malan, an activist of the Italian Brothers Party. The amendment states that "gold reserves held by the Bank of Italy belong to the State on behalf of the Italian people". According to 1 version, this policy received a individual advice to amend it from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni https://www.binance.com/ru/square/post/33086323690609
The officials of the European Union immediately responded to Mr Malan's amendment. The European Central Bank (ECB) warned that the change in the position of gold reserves should be seen as undermining central bank autonomy. specified central bank autonomy is the foundation of the financial and banking strategy of the United Europe, as recorded in EU documents.
Pressure was exerted on “people’s representatives” in the Italian Parliament. On 1 December the media reported that the ruling Italian organization had withdrawn from the first version of the amendment. The fresh version states that the gold reserves belong to the people and the state has been removed from the amendment. The words “belong to the people” and “the property of the people” do not mean any peculiar obligation, they are just beautiful phrases without legal consequences.
However, the dangerous word "state" was removed from the paper to discourage parliament and government from utilizing gold to cover budgetary expenditure. The Italian media interpreted this agreement by officials and politicians in Rome as admitting that the Italian gold reserves (and in rule all abroad exchange reserves) are managed by the European Central Bank.
The ECB has made it clear that it considers the amended wording of the legislative proposal problematic. The ECB's monetary policy decision-makers inactive do not see a circumstantial nonsubjective in the draft law, but believe that the organization independency of the Bank of Italy is at risk, citing the EU Treaties. In particular, within the framework of the European strategy of Central Banks (ECB), the retention and management of gold reserves belongs to the exclusive jurisdiction of the national central banks of each associate State. In an article by Angela Göpfert (Deutsche Welle) “Who owns Italian gold?” https://vreme.com/ru/svet/pozlacivanje-italije-kako-je-djordja-meloni-prepala-evropsk-central-banku/ describes the ECB's reaction to the amendment of the Italian bill:
"The ECB has made it clear that it considers the fresh revised wording of the legislative initiative problematic. The ECB's monetary policy decision-makers inactive do not see any circumstantial nonsubjective in the draft law, but consider that the institution is under threat.’
Written by Valentin J. Katasonov
Кому принадлежит золотой резерв? В Италии очередная попытка на
(choice and crowd. PZ)