Chapter 545: Chapter 276: The White House Is in a Dilemma_2
“That’s right, if they’re going to make a big fuss over this issue, even to the point of shutting down all our branches in Arica, that’s clearly an overreaction!”
After being reminded by the head of the legal departnt, the other senior executives’ minds also imdiately shifted.
“No, I think that if David dares to shut down our branches nationwide, it’s definitely not just for this reason. He must have another important leverage. Everyone, think carefully where else we might have slipped up!”
Mr. Jace, being the CEO of the UBS Group, naturally had a brain unmatched by ordinary people.
At present, it seed that David intended to use the branch manager’s improper lending as a pretext to rectify Swiss Bank.
But he was well aware that, at most, this could only be targeted at the Los Angeles Branch.
David and the higher-ups at the Arica Tax Bureau were also undoubtedly aware of this.
And if they were to target the nationwide branches for closure, that simply wouldn’t be a strong enough justification!
Hearing Mr. Jace’s words, the other executives seed to have regained so sense, their expressions growing troubled.
“Mr. Jace, the President has called, requesting that you report the situation!”
Just as everyone was deep in thought, a staff mber from the UBS Group walked in to remind them.
“I’ll be right there!”
Hearing it was the President, Mr. Jace did not dare to delay and quickly got up and walked out.
An hour later, under the scrutiny of countless eyes around the world, the Swiss governnt officially lodged a formal protest with the Arican governnt.
In the protest announcent, they sharply criticized the Arica Tax Bureau for its unruly law enforcent and even used terms like “jeopardizing the relationship between the two countries.”
The Arica Tax Bureau was now in the midst of a huge storm.
In the White House, in the Chief of Staff to the President’s office.
“Mr. Klent, as you know, it has always been difficult for us at the White House to intervene in the affairs of the Tax Bureau. This was certainly not a directive from our side,”
“Mr. Wylder, as the Chief of Staff to the President, can’t you control the Tax Bureau?”
“You can’t put it that way. The Tax Bureau in Arica has a sowhat special status, not comparable to tax bureaus in other countries. Here’s what we’ll do, Mr. Klent. I’ll imdiately have the Director of the Tax Bureau co over and have a good talk about what exactly is going on!”
“Mr. Wylder, you’d better act fast to get our Swiss Bank back in operation, or this could trigger a new financial crisis, and Arica will suffer just like everyone else.”
The person speaking with Mr. Wylder, the White House Chief of Staff, was none other than the current President of Switzerland.
He wasn’t just trying to intimidate Mr. Wylder. The UBS Group currently controlled 26% of the global cross-border assets. Any volatility in that area could indeed trigger a financial crisis.
This was precisely why he dared to protest so strongly in front of Mr. Wylder!
Hearing this, Mr. Wylder felt a wave of frustration.
Arica is the only superpower in the world today, and as the Chief of Staff to the President of Arica, he was one of the most powerful people on the planet.
In theory, no one should have the audacity to disrespect him like that.
But Switzerland was indeed a tricky case.
First of all, the amount of assets that Switzerland controlled was indeed enormous.
And among those assets, Arican tycoons had contributed a significant portion.
And what kind of country is Arica?
A capitalist country.
If he didn’t show respect to Switzerland, it would be the sa as disrespecting those tycoons who placed their money in Swiss banks.
So, this is exactly where the confidence of the Swiss president lies, and why even the White House Chief of Staff feels so suffocated.
“All right, Mr. Klent, I will settle this matter as quickly as possible,”
After hanging up the phone, Wylder called his assistant over and instructed him to imdiately notify Obadiah to co over.
The Arica Tax Bureau is not far from the White House, just about a twenty-minute journey, and soon Obadiah and Donald arrived at the Chief of Staff’s office.
“Obadiah, Donald, what on earth are you playing at? It’s one thing for David to act impulsively, but why would you recklessly order the seizure of all Swiss Bank branches?!”
Wylder had received an earful from the Swiss president, so naturally, he took out his frustration on these two.
“Mr. Wylder, David is not acting without sense; he is protecting our Arican interests from harm!”
Donald could not stand Wylder accusing David and imdiately stood up to defend him.
“What nonsense about protecting Arica from harm, that’s the Swiss Bank we’re talking about. Do you realize what the Swiss president just told over the phone? If this situation continues to develop, a financial crisis could even be triggered. By then, no matter how much money your Arica Tax Bureau has, how much can you actually dispense in relief and unemploynt benefits?”
Wylder’s continued accusations did not change the expressions on Donald Obadiah’s faces.
Donald then calmly replied, “Mr. Wylder, please hear out, this is the situation, after our Director David’s investigation…”
A few minutes later, after listening to the details of the CUUI and CUUO financial products, Wylder paused for a mont of thought, then with a contemplative look, asked, “Are you saying that Swiss Bank used these two products to attract dostic deposits, thereby gaining a substantial profit?”
“Yes, these two products, due to exploiting loopholes in the tax law, offer much higher returns than many bank products, and after Swiss Bank attracted our people’s funds, the returns on their investnts kept flowing back to their own country, which is tantamount to them siphoning our blood. That’s why I said earlier that David is saving our interests from loss!”
After hearing Donald’s detailed explanation again, Wylder could no longer find the words to accuse them.
He had always thought that as the world’s only superpower, Arica only ever harvested other countries’ financial ‘crops’.
But to his surprise, now it seed that soone dared to harvest theirs?
That indeed sounded infuriating.
However, after a period of thought, he voiced his concern, “Deputy Director Donald, according to what you’re saying, the CUUI and CUUO products should be legal and legitimate, right? So how can they be defined as tax evasion?”
“According to what David and the rest of us have discussed, first, the operation of the CUUI product mainly takes advantage of the tax difference between dostic and foreign investors to avoid taxes. Foreign investors face higher dividend taxes, but they can temporarily sell their stocks to the related banks, avoiding relevant taxes, and then buy them back, saving an amount that is then shared among the parties.”
“CUUO, on the other hand, acts as a strategic product for stock trading. It involves selling and repurchasing the stocks on the sa day dividends are distributed. Because the transaction ti is very short, tax authorities can’t determine who the rightful owner of the stock is. As a result, both buyer and seller can claim a capital gains tax refund.”
“Indeed, this does not violate tax laws but still exploits loopholes. If we can identify who the owner of the stocks is and gather so related information, under the current Black Tax Act profit clause, it can be classified as tax evasion”
Donald shared the details he had learned from Director David.
“Is that so, well alright then…”
Despite not fully understanding, since tax matters were not his expertise, and since Director David and the top echelon of the Arica Tax Bureau seed to agree, there likely wasn’t much of a problem.
Wylder relaxed from the tension he had felt before.
“If that’s the case, then Swiss Bank’s actions indeed constitute a harm to our Arican interests. Although seizing all their branches may be a bit extre, it can be understood…”
As Chief of Staff, his job was to assist the president with the nation’s major political affairs,
and now the background and the trajectory of the current issue had beco clear.
While David certainly had intentions of retaliating against the Swiss Bank, according to his current explanation about the two products, Swiss Bank was indeed exploiting them to harm Arican interests, which, both morally and logically, required intervention.
“Alright then, quickly put out a notice about the two products to contain the public opinion first!”
“That won’t do, Mr. Wylder. According to Director David, if this matter is made public now, Swiss Bank will certainly do everything in its power to cover it up, collude with related personnel, and fabricate evidence. Therefore, he believes it’s better to first secure relevant personnel and evidence before making it public!”
Wylder frowned but, after a mont, nodded in agreent and said, “Anyway, get this settled quickly. The diplomatic pressure from Switzerland is quite significant.”
“Understood, Mr. Wylder.”
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