Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has come under fire for lobbying Greensill Capital, a now-collapsed London-based financial firm.

E24 had previously written that Greensill had been placed under administration under a UK bankruptcy scheme. The company was started in 2011 by Australian banker Lex Greensill.

British authorities will carry out an independent investigation into Cameron’s contacts with ministers, officials and special counsel in the case, it said Financial time.

Downing Street spokesman Max Blain confirmed this, according to Bloomberg.

The UK government will see how Greensill secures contracts with the authorities and the use of the so-called «supply chain finance» Or supplier financing. They will also look at contacts between representatives from companies and the government.

Refuse large quantity

Lex Greensil worked as an unpaid adviser to Cameron when he was prime minister and has his own office in Downing Street, according to BBC.

Cameron, in turn, began as an adviser to Greensill after he finished as prime minister. Among other things, Cameron requested state emergency assistance on behalf of the company at the same time as he had a financial interest in it, according to BBC. This question inevitably comes through text messages and other informal channels.

Cameron has broken the silence and defended himself by saying he didn’t break any rules. based on BBC The rules state that ministers must wait at least two years before they start lobbying once they have finished their work.

Cameron said, however, that he had been pondering the case for a long time and that there were important lessons to be learned in this case. Cameron was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016.

– I realize that communication with the authorities should only be done through the most formal channels, so there is no room for misinterpretation, Cameron said according to Reuters.

Some have suggested that lobbying activity for the company was motivated by the possible large payout of the option of around 60 million pounds, the equivalent of 700 million kroner, but Cameron turned it down.

– Part of my remuneration is in the form of share distribution. Its value is nowhere near the amount speculated by the press. These options are now worthless, he said according to FT.

Smell for Softbank

Among those who lost money at Greensill was Japanese investment giant Softbank, which has injected billions into the company. Recently, Softbank carried out an acquisition offensive in Norway, with investments in Autostore, Oda (formerly Kolonial.no) and Kahoot.

Softbank’s Vision Fund contributed USD 1.5 billion in 2019, equivalent to NOK 12.8 billion. Greensill was later valued at $4 billion, according to the WSJ. The Vision Fund has been known for its heavy investments in technology companies such as Uber, Tiktok owner Bytedance, Slack, and WeWork.

Credit Suisse has had problems with Greensill Capital, which operates under the so-called «supply chain finance» Or supplier financing.

Credit Suisse has frozen $10 billion, the equivalent of 85 billion kroner, after the big bank worried about ties to Indian-born British metal magnate Sanjeev Gupta. He is said to have relied on Greensill to expand his empire, the GFG Alliance, which has more than 30,000 employees and $20 billion in revenue.

The bank is suspected of freezing the funds because some of the assets in it are “currently subject to significant uncertainty regarding their exact valuation”, according to the WSJ.

Big Swiss banks have taken tough action after the Greensill case, in addition to the hedge fund scandal which caused losses of around NOK 40 billion. Two people from top management resigned as a result of the case.

“We acknowledge that the US Hedging Fund and Vendor Financing Fund require significant further review and investigation,” wrote Credit Suisse, which reported that the board had initiated an investigation into both incidents.

– I acknowledge that these two incidents have created significant concern for our stakeholders, said Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein who along with the management of the remaining companies will not receive bonuses in 2020.