1. Total Metals Corp (TSXV:TT, FSE: O4N)
Total Metals Corp. is focused on advancing high-grade gold projects to production.
A textbook gold arbitrage that avoided diplomatic friction – and turned a hefty profit.
129 tonnes of gold, a silent “repatriation”
Tucked inside the Banque de France’s FY2025 report is a brilliant trade:
Instead of physically shipping its 129 tonnes of gold (roughly 5% of total reserves) back from the New York Fed’s vaults, the bank sold it in New York at peak gold prices, then bought back the same amount – but with higher purity – in Europe at lower prices.
The result: total reserves unchanged at 2,437 tonnes, yet a net gain of ~€13 billion ($15 billion). All of France’s gold now sits securely in its own underground vault in La Souterraine.
From loss to profit: one “exceptional item”
In FY2024, the central bank posted a net loss of €7.7 billion.
For FY2025? A net profit of €8.1 billion.
The game-changer was this gold operation.
In its March 25 press release, the bank labeled it an “exceptional item” :
“Income from assets held for own account rose by €12.2 billion, mainly due to an exceptional item. Between 2025 and early 2026, while gold reserves remained unchanged, the remaining 5% holding was aligned with technical guidelines, generating a significant realised currency gain totaling €11 billion for 2025.”
Perfect timing: sell high, buy low – and save on shipping
Execution window: July 2025 – January 2026
The round trip produced €13 billion in capital gains – and because nothing crossed the Atlantic, zero transport or security costs.
A clean sidestep around diplomatic landmines
With US-Europe relations strained over tariffs, Greenland, Ukraine, and Iran, demanding a physical gold repatriation – as Germany famously did – would have sparked a diplomatic kerfuffle.
The Bank of France chose a purely market-based solution:
No withdrawal request. No transfer demand. No political noise. Just sell, then buy back.
Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told reporters that keeping the new bars in Paris was “not politically motivated.”
A dramatically stronger balance sheet
The operation supercharged the bank’s financial position:
| Metric | 2024 | 2025 |
| Net equity (incl. unrealised gains) | €202.7 billion | €283.4 billion |
| Of which: gold & forex revaluation reserve (RRRODE) | – | €11.4 billion |
The €11.4 billion reserve will be used to cover future monetary expenses.
Bottom line
No diplomatic drama, no transatlantic shipping – just a smart pair of trades that moved France’s gold from New York to Paris and pocketed €13 billion in the process.
That’s financial alchemy at its finest.
