Peter Greensill, who has sat on the board since 2011, is pursuing $US125,000 ($161,000) in unpaid directors’ fees, but Grant Thornton said his claim “has not been substantiated”. Eddie Hughes, the South Australian Labor MP whose seat of Giles covers the Whyalla region, said on Tuesday the official insolvency of one of Mr Gupta’s main financiers, Greensill Capital, brought new uncertainties. Shares in ... IAG and Greensill’s insolvency. Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance is manoeuvring for some extra time to try to hammer out billions of dollars of replacement funding for its teetering global steel and manufacturing empire, which includes the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia, following the insolvency of main financier Greensill Capital. Singapore is returning to lockdown-like conditions for a month; Australia’s first repatriation flight once the India travel ban ends will be at half capacity; Scott Morrison says Australia will pass 3 million vaccinations today. When Greensill’s Australian parent filed its most recent annual report with regulators, for the year ending December 2019, it had nine directors, including Lex Greensill and his brother Peter. The Whyalla steelworks, about 400 km north of Adelaide, employs 1500 people. The Australian company’s main asset is a debt of $US777.4 million ($1 billion) owed by GCUK, but this is being chased by a phalanx of secured and unsecured creditors. It is hoping to sell Greensill’s Latin American subsidiary Omni, which mostly operates in Colombia and Chile, despite “severe” impacts on Omni’s brand and reputation from Greensill’s collapse. Mr Walton said the AWU was in regular contact with GFG management and it was a situation which would likely play out over several weeks, given the complexities involved. 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They noted the company was highly illiquid, but this reflected that its financial exposures to Japan’s Softbank and Greensill Capital UK (GCUK) were not immediately repayable. The Serious Fraud Office will investigate suspected fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering in GFG’s financing arrangements. The South Australian Liberal Government led by Premier Steven Marshall is closely scrutinising the situation and was scheduled to hold a phone hook-up with key players late on Tuesday afternoon. Unsecured creditors are in an even more insecure position. Mr Hughes said the Federal government and the South Australian government may need to become involved to ensure a long-term future was mapped out, particularly as the COVID-19 pandemic underlined the importance of an Australian manufacturing sector. Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. Australian Workers Union state secretary in South Australia, Peter Lamps, was on site at the Whyalla steelworks on March 5 talking to workers and seeking reassurance from management. Lex Greensill’s Australian company has as much as $4.9 billion of debt. The administrators found payments worth around $US174 million, described as “proceeds PG Family Trust,” that were transferred out of Greensill Capital Pty Ltd. “Management have indicated that these transactions in part relate to the sale of shares by Peter Greensill. Professor Garnaut declined to comment on the broader issues at Greensill and GFG. Greensill’s Australian employees – who have been paid $US4.5 million of bonuses earned in 2019 – are expected to eventually recover the $2.2 million they are owed, even though they may first have to make claims with the federal government’s Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme while Grant Thornton tries to sell off Omni. That technology hadn’t been adopted by any other steelmaker outside of South Korea and some of the hardheads inside the federal government at the time became increasingly anxious about taking such a big punt, and the long time-frame of five years for it to be installed at the Whyalla plant. Fellow advisory board member Simon McKeon, the lead Australian director of mining giant Rio Tinto, declined to comment and former foreign minister Alexander Downer could not be reached by deadline. Grant Thornton’s initial investigations into “unreasonable director-related transactions” have identified several to review. The concerns focused particularly on the extent and nature of Greensill’s exposure to GFG Alliance, the opaquely-financed steel, aluminium and energy empire of British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta. If it receives liquidator powers at a creditors’ meeting scheduled for next Thursday, it will examine the group’s access to external funding and the solvency position of Greensill’s main UK operating business. Court documents in the United Kingdom say Greensill had exposure of about $6.5 billion to GFG, which is desperately trying to stave off a domino effect on … Without the insurance – and with Germany’s financial regulator expressing concern about some of the credits underlying the bonds – Swiss financial giant Credit Suisse would no longer buy Greensill paper, collapsing the company’s funding model. Ross Garnaut, whose ZEN Energy business was split out from Mr Gupta’s GFG Alliance in August last year under a demerger, said on Tuesday that deal had been part of an amicable arrangement because ZEN Energy was focusing on segments including the third-party retail business and development projects. The Serious Fraud Office will investigate suspected fraud, fraudulent trading and money laundering in GFG’s financing arrangements. Up to 7,000 Australian manufacturing jobs are at stake after financing firm Greensill filed for insolvency in the United Kingdom and Australia. Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. Greensill Capital is considering filing for insolvency after Credit Suisse Group froze $US10 billion ($12.9 billion) worth of investment funds that the trade finance firm had relied on as buyers of the debt securities it issues. Greensill estimates that over 50,000 jobs including over 7000 in Australia may be at risk.” It was not immediately clear which Australian companies are at risk of insolvency. Omni was sold to Greensill for $US13.6 million in mid-2020 but as of January, was carrying losses and Omni’s former owners are planning to claim around $US5.9 million for deferred payments struck as part of their sale transaction. (Reuters) - Troubled supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital is seeking insolvency protection in Australia, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, after … London-headquartered Greensill has sought key insolvency protections, known as “safe harbour protections”, in Australia to allow it to continue to trade in the event it is insolvent while protecting its directors from criminal liability. While Greensill is mostly based in London it is exploring “safe harbour” insolvency protection in Australia, according to the Financial Times. Because Greensill Australia’s main role was to funnel money into the operating businesses in Britain and Germany, its assets are tied up in the parallel administration processes taking place for Greensill’s UK operations and Bremen-based Greensill Bank. Greensill also still owes Earnd’s sellers – which include 32 separate parties – some $8.8 million in deferred consideration related to Earnd’s sale agreement, which was executed in February just before Greensill collapsed. Its offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Bundaberg did not finance clients or hold contracts with them, although some staff did originate deals in the Asia-Pacific. Grant Thornton said there was a “variance” of $US108.1 million between Greensill’s financial books and the initial convertible loan note agreements with Softbank. “There needs to be a plan about the future,” he said. “Our members have worked extremely hard to get these steel operations humming and profitable and they don’t deserve to be swept up in all this,” he said. The Whyalla steelworks is part of the broader GFG and Liberty businesses in Australia. “GFG and ZEN Energy came to an amicable agreement and de-merged when we learnt that we were mainly interested in different things,” Professor Garnaut said. The company went into administration in early March after its key insurer refused to renew a critical credit insurance policy covering the company’s massive bond issuance program. “An insolvent trading claim against the company’s directors for the estimated loss could be made by a liquidator if the company is wound up at the forthcoming meeting,” Grant Thornton said in a 91-page report on Greensill’s collapse. GFG was anointed the successful bidder in July 2017 by administrators KordaMentha, elbowing out private equity group Newlake, which hadn’t done a deal in the steel sector previously and intended using FINEX steel-making technology from Korean steelmaker POSCO. The Infrabuild business, comprising two mini steel mills at Rooty Hill in outer Sydney and Laverton on Melbourne’s outskirts, along with a steel products distribution network and a steel recycling business, has a workforce of 5000 people. “Profitability is strong and global prospects are good, which is a very different situation to the Arrium crisis of 2016,” Mr Walton said. The administrators said it did not appear that the Australian group had been insolvent from a balance sheet perspective for any length of time before they were appointed, but said they needed to do detailed investigations examining whether it traded insolvent from a cash flow perspective. But he said the fundamentals of the operations were on a solid footing, and with the associated iron ore mining operations in the Middleback Ranges near Whyalla and the strong iron ore prices being fetched for exports, it was in a better position than five years ago. Credit Suisse can also further reduce the debt through its security rights over GCUK’s receivables, so it may reduce its claim on the Australian company after getting satisfaction from the British subsidiary. A number of Australian companies will face the prospect of insolvency unless watermelon farmer-turned-financier Lex Greensill gets his business affairs in order quickly. London-headquartered Greensill has sought key insolvency protections, known as “safe harbour protections”, in Australia to allow it to continue to trade in the event it is insolvent while protecting its directors from criminal liability. Video: Up to 7,000 Australian jobs at stake following Greensill insolvency (Sky News Australia) Up to 7,000 Australian jobs at stake following Greensill insolvency Sky News Australia … The one-year loan was made to Greensill’s Australian company, which then passed it on to the British company. As previously reported, Greensill was a supply-chain debt provider. Greensill, founded by Bundaberg farmer turned investment banker and AFR Rich Lister Lex Greensill in 2011, offered supply-chain finance and loans to its customers, based on invoices those businesses owed or were owed. The Insurance Australia Group Ltd share price is on a roller coaster today. It has also sought protection from Australia’s insolvency regime. (Reuters) - Troubled supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital is seeking insolvency protection in Australia, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, after Credit Suisse suspended $10 billion of funds linked to the London-based company's lending operations. Abandon coal: Britain fires up new campaign for COP26 climate summit, UK fraud agency opens probe into Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, Peter Costello warns Frydenberg over budget spending, Orica hammered by pandemic, sour Australia-China relations, Plan to turn Penfolds into Gucci starts at home. insolvency of main financier Greensill Capital. 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