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Zurich Gold Market
The next market to open in gold’s day is Zurich, Switzerland. This market is dominated by the large Swiss commercial banks. They first made a splash in the world gold market by convincing South Africa that they would be better merchants for its gold than London, especially since the Swiss banks would themselves be the end buyers instead of acting as intermediaries like the London banks. Then, in the early 1970s, Russia – which at the time was the second largest producer of gold to South Africa – started to ship its gold to Switzerland. Zurich in this way became the largest dealer of physical gold bullion in the world, shipping to all the corners of the earth.
“Gold is as much a part of Switzerland as the Alps and skiing” as Timothy Green puts it. Switzerland appeals to a great many of the world’s private sector gold-holders, the extremely wealthy people who keep a significant amount of their assets in gold. Many people who do not trust their own governments admire Switzerland for its secrecy laws and its long history of judiciously handling other people’s money. As a result, most of the world’s privately held gold is stored secretly in Swiss vaults.
The London market opens while Zurich is still standing. It most often takes its cue from Zurich. So goes gold around the globe every day. The sun never sets on the gold market.
