Venezuela's $4 Billion Gold May Leave London Vaults for the New York Fed After Years Locked

Reuters (Mayela Armas, 18 September 2026) reported that seven people familiar with the negotiations said Venezuela's acting government and a faction of the opposition are nearing a deal to move about $4 billion in gold from the Bank of England to the United States, which would control access to the funds. The Independent (Gergana Krasteva) carried the same Financial Times first-report framing.

This is near-deal reporting. It is not a closed transfer, not a completed court order releasing the gold, and not a sale of the bullion.

About 31 metric tons of Venezuelan gold have sat at the Bank of England for years. Under the proposed deal the bars would move to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Some Reuters sources said the US Treasury would administer the holdings instead.

Talks in Caracas pair the acting government headed by Delcy Rodriguez with members of the 2015 opposition-led legislature. The agenda includes remaking the political system, oil deals, a major debt restructuring, and reconstruction after June's twin earthquakes.

Proposed terms, first reported by the Financial Times and carried by Reuters and The Independent, would give the Rodriguez government legal control without an immediate right to sell. The bullion could be used as collateral for government borrowing, including quake reconstruction. The opposition wants a transparency protocol, US oversight, and project-by-project approval.

The Bank of England withheld the gold after the UK refused to recognize Nicolas Maduro and backed Juan Guaido in 2019. Maduro was ousted in a January 2026 US raid on Caracas and faces drug trafficking charges in New York. Rodriguez is the acting president. Those are not the same person and not the same legal claim.

Opposition-linked lawyers for a parallel central bank board have withdrawn from the UK court case, Reuters reported. The Bank of England says it cannot act until a further UK court order names who has legal authority over the account. The UK Foreign Office says it is not a party, and that UK courts and the Bank of England are independent of government.

The deal is nearing, not finalized. Reuters first said it could not immediately verify the Financial Times account, then published its own multi-source story the same day. The gold has not left London.

Related official-sector money-control tape includes Treasury's Golden Global Bank designation, the DOJ's $61 million USDT Iranian-oil forfeiture, and Treasury's 27-airline Outcast designations.

If you trade Venezuela, gold, or reconstruction paper this week, treat the bars as still in London until a UK court names who can instruct the Bank of England, and do not price a completed New York transfer.