Gnomes of Zürich is a disparaging term for Swiss bankers. Swiss bankers are popularly associated with extremely secretive policies, while gnomes in fairy tales live underground, in secret, counting their riches. Zürich is the commercial center of Switzerland.
The term was coined by the British Labour Party politician Harold Wilson, then Shadow Chancellor, in 1964 when he accused Swiss bankers of pushing the pound down on the foreign exchange markets by speculation.
