Former British Prime Minister David Cameron.
LEON NEAL / AFP via Getty Images
LONDON – The UK government on Monday announced plans to open an independent investigation into Greensill Capital following efforts by former Prime Minister David Cameron to pressure ministers on behalf of the financial company.
“The cabinet office commissions an independent review on behalf of the Prime Minister to establish the development and use of supply chain funding and government-associated activities and the role Greensill played in these,” he said. in the press the spokesman of the prime minister Boris Johnson. .
“This independent review will also examine how contracts and government-related business representatives were achieved,” he said, adding that the prime minister wanted them to be concluded quickly.
The investigation will be led by legal expert Nigel Boardman, a former partner at law firm Slaughter and May and non-executive director of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Greensill, which went on to run last month, claims on its website that it “unlocks funding so the world can get it up and running” and in 2020 issued more than $ 143 billion to more than 10 million customers. .
The London-based company, in which SoftBank of Japan invested about $ 1.5 billion, filed its administration after its insurance provider refused to renew $ 4.6 billion in insurance for its loans.
Its collapse has endangered tens of thousands of steel jobs in the UK
In 2010, Cameron vowed to tackle “secret corporate lobbying,” warning that it could become the next political scandal.
Cameron’s request for help
Cameron, who led the UK from 2010 to 2016, sent text messages about Greensill to ministers, including Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, in response to a request for freedom of information.
Sunak confirmed Friday that Cameron contacted him informally by phone, saying the matter was being forwarded to the appropriate officers.
According to reports, Greensill wanted to change or expand the scope of a government loan scheme to be able to access Treasury economic loans.
Sunak added that it was right that “the Treasury should listen – and give due consideration – to all potential options to help companies survive the pandemic.”
According to a report in The Sunday Times, Cameron and Greensill founder Lex Greensill also met with Health Secretary Matt Hancock to discuss a payment scheme for the NHS.
Cameron began working as a Greensill advisor after leaving the post in August 2018.
The former Conservative party leader has denied violating any rules on the issue or any code of conduct. In his first weeks of comments on the scandal, Cameron acknowledged on Sunday that he should have contacted government ministers through formal channels, saying there were “important lessons to be learned”.
Cameron said he had been trying to raise money for Greensill through a government-backed emergency loan plan that was set up to help companies affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The government refused to support Greensill through its “Covid Corporate Financing Facility.”