Yahoo Finance UBS sets aside €900m to repay Greensill investors
UBS has set aside €900m (£760m) to help repay former Credit Suisse customers trapped in funds that were frozen after the collapse of Greensill Capital.
The Swiss banking giant will repay investors 90pc of the money tied up in funds as part of its rescue of its Swiss counterpart last year after a string of scandals prompted its near-demise.
The repayment window will remain open to customers until July 31 and will be based on the net asset value of the funds in February 2021.
UBS will book a $900m (£710m) provision but said this would not affect profits.
The bank said: “It will allow an early exit from fund investments compared to distributions under the ongoing recovery process.”
UBS inherited Credit Suisse’s troubled Supply Chain Finance Funds as part of the takeover last spring.
The funds were launched by Credit Suisse after it packaged up about $10bn of supply finance loans, including some made to Lex Greensill’s Greensill Capital.
These funds were then sold to professional investors who were seeking exposure to the fast-growing supply chain finance sector.
After Greensill collapsed in early 2021, Credit Suisse was forced to suspend redemptions due to its insurers refusing to supply insurance to the funds.
Around 75pc of the $10bn trapped in the funds has been recovered so far.
A team recruited to recover the debt is still seeking to claw back $2.6bn.
Greensill capital was backed by Softbank and advised by former prime minister Lord Cameron.
He became embroiled in a lobbying scandal owing to his involvement with the firm after Greensill offered to back the Covid loan scheme.
The money from Credit Suisse’s feeder funds had been used by Greensill to lend to companies including GFG Alliance, Sanjeev Gupta’s industrials company.
GFG owed investors in the Credit Suisse funds about $900m, according to recently released documents.
Before its collapse, Credit Suisse was censured by the Swiss financial watchdog FINMA over its relationship with Greensill.
FINMA said the bank “seriously breached its supervisory obligations”.
