Although - disappointingly for GoldFinger -  no bankers are taking to the stage, sixteen well-known comedians from around Europe are being drafted in to make up for it.

“Knowing laugh” is a fortnight of comic cabaret and theatrical performances throughout Switzerland which, according to Hans Jakob Brunner, president of CIC’s development committee, encourages “both thinking and smiling”.

There are few rules in comedy. But as hard and fast rules of thumb, GoldFinger would suggest two: "Know your audience" and "If it needs explanation, it’s probably not funny". Yet far from being a recipe for disaster, an event aimed exclusively at the private bank’s clients and their advisors should have no excuse for missing the mark.

Indeed, with routines consisting in monologues, mime and acerbic satire performed to an audience with millions  - nay billions - of assets under management, the material will be nothing if not high-brow.

The festival will take place in Basle, Friburg, Geneva, Lausanne, Morat, Neuchatel and Zurich and will include material from French impressionist Michel Leeb, out-of-the-box thinking from Swiss magician Michel Gammenthaler, and Germanic beat-boxing from Martin O.

Yann Lambiel, known for his impersonations of diminutive French politicians, will also perform his “satirical skating”, while ending the half-month of mirth will be French comic-songwriter Thierry Romanens.

GoldFinger thinks it always possible to find out something about a person from their comic tastes. Thankfully, CIC have put on a well chosen cabaret of talent; let’s hope the audience agree.