Lex Greensill takes blame for collapse before UK’s parliamentary panel

FINANCIER Lex Greensill faced a grilling session by British lawmakers on Tuesday (11) over his collapsed company Greensill Capital. The group had filed for insolvency in March after having operated for a decade, thereby triggering fears of major job losses and accusations of political wrongdoing in the UK.

“I am truly sorry," Greensill told a cross-party Treasury committee investigating the collapse. "Please understand that I bear complete responsibility for the collapse of Greensill Capital."

He added that he was "desperately saddened that more than a thousand very hard-working people" had lost jobs at Greensill and took "full responsibility for any hardship" felt by its clients, their suppliers, and investors. He also said that there has been "no direct loss to the taxpayer from Greensill's collapse."

UK former prime minister David Cameron will also face the same panel on Thursday (13) for questions focused on claims of improper government lobbying involving this London-headquartered company.

One of the Greensill Capital’s major clients includes the steel empire GFG Alliance headed by Indian-British magnate Sanjeev Gupta. GFG runs Liberty Steel which could be forced to shut some of its dozen UK plants leading to losses of jobs following the collapse of its main financial backer.

Other major clients affected are Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse and some other 26 German towns. The debacle has threatened losses of about 50,000 jobs at companies around the world that relied on its financing for their supply chains. 

The collapse of the financial service company is formally getting investigated by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which is investigating matters relating to Greensill Capital UK, Greensill Capital Securities, and the oversight of the latter by its principal, Mirabella Advisers LLP.

"We are also cooperating with counterparts in other UK enforcement and regulatory agencies, as well as authorities in a number of overseas jurisdictions," FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi said in a letter to parliament's Treasury Select Committee.

FCA revealed that they are also investigating Greensill’s failure “some of which are potentially criminal in nature.”