§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the nature of the United Kingdom contribution to the tripartite commission for the restitution of monetary gold; how many British commissioners have served since 1946; who is the current commissioner; and to whom he or she reports.
§ Mr. RifkindWe make no financial contribution to the running costs of the Tripartite Gold Commission. According to the Commission's terms of reference, the
expenses of the Commission … shall be a first charge against the fund of monetary gold to be distributed".There have been 19 British Commissioners or alternate Commissioners since 1946.
The current Commissioner is Mr. M. B. Collins OBE, commercial counsellor at the British Embassy in Brussels. He reports to us.
§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many United Kingdom 233W claims are currently before the Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold; and what is the value of such claims.
§ Mr. RifkindNone.
§ Mr. Rookerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what function the Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold performs; how much gold by weight is under its control; where the gold is stored; what its value is; what it was originally; and what is the source of the gold.
§ Mr. RifkindThe Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold was set up to implement part III of the Paris agreement on reparation, which deals with the restitution of monetary gold.
Approximately 2,030 Kilos (65,283 fine ounces) of gold is held in the Federal Reserve bank, New York. The gold in New York is at present worth approximately US$24 million. The Bank of England holds approximately 5,106 Kilos (164,048 fine ounces). This is at present worth approximately US$60.7 million. For many years the gold was worth US$35 an ounce.
The gold pool is made up of all the monetary gold found in Germany by the Allied Forces and montery gold recovered from third countries to which it had been transferred from Germany.