LONDON (Reuters) -Administrators to collapsed firm Greensill Capital’s UK business said it had $17.7 billion in assets under management at March 8 of which $3.7 billion has been collected as of April 16.
The supply chain finance firm, which lent money to firms by buying their invoices at a discount, collapsed in March 2021 after insurers pulled their cover.
Creditors of Greensill Capital Pty, the Australian parent of the British company, voted in April to liquidate that company.
Among the investors burnt in the widespread fallout from Greensill’s collapse were clients of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse, steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance and some 26 German towns.
A British parliamentary committee said on Friday that former Prime Minister David Cameron – who lobbied for Greensill – and the company’s founder Lex Greensill would be questioned by lawmakers next week over the failure of the firm.
Grant Thornton, Greensill UK’s administrators, proposed in a statement filed with Companies House late on Thursday that the administration would end with the voluntary liquidation or dissolution of Greensill Capital UK and Greensill Capital Management UK, after a sale attempt fell through earlier this year.
Some of Greensill’s assets were backed by insurance and Grant Thornton said investors may be able to recover some funds through insurance claims. It has appointed law firm Herbert Smith Freehills for trade credit insurance issues.
Grant Thornton estimates it will be able to recover just $275 million to repay claims from unsecured creditors worth nearly $1.5 billion.
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Iain WithersEditing by Rachel Armstrong and Louise Heavens)
