gnomes of Zurich

gnomes of Zurich

Swiss bankers, when they are seen as nefarious. When it comes to a lack of transparency, the gnomes of Zurich take the prize.
See also: of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

gnomes of Zurich

Swiss financiers or bankers, regarded as having sinister influence. derogatory
This phrase stems from a remark made by the British politician Harold Wilson in a speech in 1956 : ‘all the little gnomes in Zurich…about whom we keep on hearing’.
See also: of
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • ain’t 1
  • dirty work at the crossroads
  • back alley
  • a man who stands for nothing will fall for anything
  • go legit
  • legit
  • up to no good
  • worm (something) out of (one)
  • worm out of
  • vice ring
References in periodicals archive
The gnomes of Zurich (Zurich Premiership, that is) would have winced last weekend when they saw the cash returns on the sixth round of the Powergen Cup.
Yesterday 1,300 of them set out to prove that there's more to Switzerland than the Gnomes of Zurich by becoming the Nudes of Neuchatel.
Caught between the Trade Unions, the captains of industry and the international financiers, whom he famously dubbed 'the gnomes of Zurich', he steered an essentially reformist course.
When I lived in England in the 1960s, one could hear Prime Minister Harold Wilson denounce the "gnomes of Zurich" on an almost daily basis.
This is not necessarily bad, some argue: at the helms of central banks, it is better to have the gnomes of Zurich than the kleptocrats of Kinshasa.
But the faceless gnomes of Zurich had other ideas and blew a hole in the hopes of those struggling to get a life by acquiring a home.
A nation of bankers, known as the Gnomes of Zurich, they keep most of the world's money stuffed in their vaults.
'Perhaps the gnomes of Zurich are music lovers,' suggested Dreary Derek, who thinks Val Doonican is a bit of a tearaway, let alone the argumentative lads from Manchester.
High-pitched Ingerland chanting ahoy as our small boys take on the gnomes of Zurich. Rating:
Alexander said the "gnome of Melbourne" could take lessons from the "gnomes of Zurich" who looked around Europe for the best places to develop life sciences and bio-technolgy - two of the best three were in Scotland.
The gnomes of Zurich and their exchange-bureau colleagues in railway stations give you the best rates and charge nil commission.
And he knows, above all, that cannabis is so harmless that even Switzerland - no-one's idea of an anarchist paradise - decriminalised it last year, with no disturbing reports so far of vastly-increased chocolate consumption among the Gnomes of Zurich.