LONDON - The Australian parent of failed specialist finance firm Greensill Capital, whose recent collapse sparked worldwide corporate fallout, job loss fears and a major UK political scandal, has entered liquidation, administrators said Thursday.
Creditors including Credit Suisse and the Association of German Banks met online early Thursday and "resolved to place the company into liquidation", according to a statement from admininstrators Grant Thornton.
Greensill Capital Pty Ltd, which is the parent company of the Global Greensill Group, had provided head office support and sourced funding for the disgraced finance giant's operations.
"The administrators provided an overview of the key information from the voluntary administrators’ report" to 41 creditors and their representatives, who then voted in favour of liquidation, Grant Thornton added.
"The purpose of this report is to provide creditors with sufficient information for them to make an informed decision about the future of the company."
Administrators will now wind down Greensill activities and attempt to sell off chunks of the business, which was founded in 2011 by Australian Lex Greensill.
"The liquidators will continue to identify and realise available assets, monitor developments in relation to the administrations of Greensill UK and the Greensill Bank AG, and continue their investigations in relation to Greensill Capital Pty Limited in liquidation," Grant Thornton said.
The company filed for bankruptcy last month in Britain, which hosts most of its operations, and also in Australia where its parent group is based and Germany where it has a banking arm.
The collapse of Greensill Capital morphed into a broadening scandal in Britain, where it has ensnared Conservative politicians and top civil servants.
Greensill imploded in March, threatening an estimated 50,000 jobs at companies that relied on its supply chain financing, including the steel empire of Indian-British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta.
The controversial company specialised in short-term corporate loans via a complex business model that ultimately sparked its declaration of insolvency.
Lex Greensill obtained inside access to the Downing Street machine of then-prime minister David Cameron, on the promise of helping to provide the government with the latest thinking on financial technology.
Cameron was forced to step down following Britain's Brexit referendum in 2016, and two years later became an adviser to Greensill Capital, amassing share options that were potentially worth millions.
This year, he privately lobbied senior officials including finance minister Rishi Sunak for government support before the firm's business model of supplying interim finance to companies imploded, rendering his share options worthless.
Cameron is most directly in the firing line because of his personal and undeclared lobbying, but denies any impropriety.