Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider a moratorium on any repatriation of gold held by the Bank of England to the government or Central Bank of Venezuela until such time as they are satisfied that any repatriation meets the best interests of the people of that country.

Holding gold reserves on behalf of any foreign central bank is a matter for the Bank of England. The Bank of England does not share information on which central banks it holds gold reserves on behalf of or the value of that gold as this would contradict their customer confidentiality obligations. Repatriation of any gold held at the Bank of England is ultimately a matter for the Bank of England. HM Treasury only has direct control over Government holdings of gold within its official reserves, which are held at the Bank of England.

The UK fully implements UN, EU and UK domestic sanctions law. The EU sanctions regime on Venezuela, introduced in November 2017, includes targeted asset freezes applied to a number of senior Government officials in the Maduro regime.