UK Inquiry Tracker

Lessons from Greensill Capital

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 5 Jul 2021 Closed: 21 Jan 2022 Parliament page

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the government launched a series of schemes providing financial support to businesses of all sizes. Of these, the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) provided support to the largest businesses—those with a minimum turnover of £45 million. Commercial lenders (for example, banks, building … Read more

1 Recommendation

27 Conclusions

1 Report

2 Oral sessions

4 Letters

2 Events

Activity timeline 10 events

9 Mar
2022

Correspondence

Correspondence from Catherine Lewis La Torre, Chief Executive, British Business Bank, re British Business Bank (the Bank) review, dated 2 …

21 Jan
2022

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty Sixth report from Session 2021-22

18 Jan
2022

Correspondence

Correspondence from Sarah Munby, Permanent Secretary, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, re PAC recommendations – “Less…

20 Nov
2021

Report published

Twenty-Sixth Report - Lessons from Greensill Capital: accreditation to business support schemes

16 Nov
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence Catherine Little, Director General, Public Spending Head of Government Finance Function, re Lessons from Greensill Capital, …

22 Jul
2021

Oral evidence

Lessons from Greensill Capital

22 Jul
2021

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Lessons from Greensill Capital

6 Jul
2021

Correspondence

Correspondence from RT David Cameron, Former prime minister of the United Kingdom, re follow up to Greensill, dated 25 June 2021

13 May
2021

Oral evidence

Lessons from Greensill Capital

13 May
2021

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Lessons from Greensill Capital

Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions

22 Jul 2021

View on parliament.uk

Lessons from Greensill Capital

Catherine Lewis La Torre · British Business Bank Charles Roxburgh · HM Treasury Patrick Magee · British Business Bank Sarah Munby · Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Sir Tom Scholar · HM Treasury

13 May 2021

View on parliament.uk

Lessons from Greensill Capital

Rt Hon David Cameron

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Twenty-Sixth Report - Lessons from Greensill Capital: accreditat…	HC 169	20 Nov 2021	28	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

28 results

2 Conclusion

Twenty-Sixth Report - Lessons from…

The Department and the Bank struck the wrong balance between making decisions quickly and protecting...

The Department and the Bank struck the wrong balance between making decisions quickly and protecting taxpayer interests. We have previously found that the need to work at speed in responding to the pandemic has in some instances resulted in increased … Read more The Department and the Bank struck the wrong balance between making decisions quickly and protecting taxpayer interests. We have previously found that the need to work at speed in responding to the pandemic has in some instances resulted in increased risk and potentially exposed the taxpayer to huge losses. The Bank’s approach to assurance consists of: the initial accreditation of lenders; post-lending assurance; and legal and contractual protections within the scheme guarantee agreement. The Bank’s decision to follow a streamlined accreditation process when assessing Greensill’s application—as with other non-bank lenders— placed greater reliance on post-lending audits and legal protections rather than performing detailed upfront due diligence. The Bank asserts that it adopted a tiered approach to accreditation, which differentiated between regulated banks and non-bank lenders. For example, regulated banks and lenders with which the Bank had an existing relationship underwent an accelerated process. The Bank accepts that delivering at speed has exposed it to risk, but it considers the interests of the taxpayer to be very well protected through its contractual arrangements with each lender. While the Bank has legal protection in preventing a guarantee being called if it believes scheme rules have not been followed, this is by no means a certain outcome—Greensill’s administrators have stated their belief that Greensill is compliant with the scheme rules. With more time and due diligence, the Bank might have reached a different decision on Greensill’s accreditation. 6 Lessons from Greensill Capital: accreditation to business support schemes Recommendation: The Bank should write to the Committee by the end of the year setting out how it will better balance between speed of delivery and value for money in future and what trade-offs it is prepared to accept. The response should detail how the Bank will identify these trade-offs early, perform scenario analysis of potentia Show less

Government Response

agree with the Committee’s conclusion. The department assesses the value for money of all its investments. Value for money is evidenced and scrutinised at key approvals and assurance milestones and … Read more

HM Treasury

Lessons from Greensill Capital

Activity timeline 10 events

Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Recommendations & Conclusions

The Department and the Bank struck the wrong balance between making decisions quickly and protecting...

The Bank’s approach to due diligence in accrediting Greensill was woefully inadequate.

The Bank has been insufficiently curious when identifying where money lent through the schemes, including...

We are concerned that the Bank’s investigation into Greensill has progressed much more slowly than...

The Department’s enquiries of the Bank during Greensill’s accreditation created a damaging perception of interference,...

Government has not yet identified the lessons it will take from its accreditation of Greensill...

On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence...

The Bank accredited Greensill to lend under both CBILS and CLBILS.

We asked the Bank how much weight it had placed on the work of others,...

We asked the Bank why it had accredited Greensill despite several press reports highlighting it...

The NAO found that the Bank treated Greensill’s application like other similar applicants, but that...

The Department told us that it had requested updates on when a decision would be...

The NAO found that, when challenged on its loans to borrowers within the GFG Alliance...

We asked the Bank whether it considered the Department’s questions about Greensill’s accreditation as the...

In early 2020, Greensill approached a number of government departments seeking involvement in various business...

We were concerned that Greensill had approached various parts of government looking for financial support,...

In May 2020, the Bank of England shared information with the Treasury that it had...

Greensill lent a total of £418.5 million under the government’s COVID-19 business support schemes between...

On 12 October 2020, the Bank launched an investigation into Greensill’s compliance with the CLBILS...

The Bank told us that it had acted immediately to protect the taxpayers’ position by...

In the Letter of Concern, the Bank outlined what it considered to be breaches of...

The Bank confirmed that the investigation was still ongoing as it was awaiting a formal...

In total, under CBILS and CLBILS, lenders have issued more than 110,000 loans worth around...

To understand how the Bank ensures that these schemes support UK businesses, we asked about...

We asked the Treasury and the Bank whether they had undertaken any analysis of how...

Our work on the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that there are...

We asked what lessons had been learnt or what could have been done differently as...

The Bank told us that it will closely evaluate its COVID-19 business support schemes, including...

Correspondence 4 letters