The Guardian has reported that in the latest blow, the British Government has dropped guarantees made on GBP 400 million of loans from Greensill Capital to companies linked to the embattled metals tycoon Mr Sanjeev Gupta. The state-owned British Business Bank said that it has terminated guarantees backing Greensill’s loans to large businesses after investigating its lending practices.Greensill had lent GBP 400 million to companies owned by or linked to Mr Gupta in 2020 using the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which benefited from an 80% government guarantee. Those guarantees were suspended by the British Business Bank last year while an investigation into Greensill’s compliance with the scheme was conducted. The Financial Times reported that the British Business Bank had written to the House of Commons’ public accounts committee to confirm that Mr Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, had accepted its recommendation to terminate the guarantees permanently in April. The committee had said the loans to various Gupta-linked companies appeared to flagrantly contravened GBP 50 million cap on loans that Greensill could make to a single company.The CLBILS loans are also being examined by the Serious Fraud Office, which last year launched an investigation into Gupta’s GFG and its financing arrangements with Greensill Capital.
The Guardian has reported that in the latest blow, the British Government has dropped guarantees made on GBP 400 million of loans from Greensill Capital to companies linked to the embattled metals tycoon Mr Sanjeev Gupta. The state-owned British Business Bank said that it has terminated guarantees backing Greensill’s loans to large businesses after investigating its lending practices.Greensill had lent GBP 400 million to companies owned by or linked to Mr Gupta in 2020 using the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which benefited from an 80% government guarantee. Those guarantees were suspended by the British Business Bank last year while an investigation into Greensill’s compliance with the scheme was conducted. The Financial Times reported that the British Business Bank had written to the House of Commons’ public accounts committee to confirm that Mr Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, had accepted its recommendation to terminate the guarantees permanently in April. The committee had said the loans to various Gupta-linked companies appeared to flagrantly contravened GBP 50 million cap on loans that Greensill could make to a single company.The CLBILS loans are also being examined by the Serious Fraud Office, which last year launched an investigation into Gupta’s GFG and its financing arrangements with Greensill Capital.
