WSJ: Greensill's Woes Continue
The Wall Street Journal writes again on Greensill Capital's growing woes. The article, "`Greensill Capital Tumbles Into Insolvency, Spreading Financial Pain," tells us, "Greensill Capital filed for insolvency protection Monday, days after regulators took over its banking unit and Credit Suisse Group AG froze investment funds that were critical to the startup's operations. The unwinding has rippled to holders of the Credit Suisse funds, German municipalities that deposited money with Greensill's bank, and a high-profile duo of venture-capital investors. Greensill specialized in supply-chain finance, a type of short-term cash advance to companies to stretch out the time they have to pay their bills. The firm was once worth $4 billion based on investments from SoftBank Group Corp.'s Vision Fund. The collapse marks a high-profile blow for the mammoth Japanese investor." The Journal explains, "Greensill's operations seized last week when Credit Suisse stopped investors from moving money in or out the $10 billion in supply-chain investment funds. GAM followed suit the next day with its $800 million fund. Both have said they would wind down the funds. The Credit Suisse move was triggered after Greensill lost coverage from a set of credit insurers that provided protection in case the startup's clients defaulted. The insurance was crucial because it made Greensill's assets appear safer to Credit Suisse's institutional investors, some of whom are restricted from putting cash into riskier investments." It adds, "A preliminary tally shows that as much as 700 million euros of Greensill Bank's deposits, equivalent to $830 million, out of a total of €3.6 billion, or $4.3 billion, weren't covered by deposit insurance, according to a person familiar with the bank. Some of those deposits were held by German municipalities, which were attracted to Greensill for its slightly higher interest rates. German banks have increasingly been passing on negative rates to their customers. Municipalities in Germany aren't eligible for deposit protection."
