By Maria Ward-Brennan
The founder of Greensill Capital, Lex Greensill, has filed a lawsuit against the Department for Business and Trade over the alleged “misuse of private information”.
The claim was filed last Thursday and he has appointed specialist law firm Ellerman, which has David Huw Williams KC and Ivan Pearce as joint directors, to represent him, according to the High Court claims system.
No further details about the claim were made available.
Greensill Capital was a financial services company focused on the provision of supply chain financing and related financial services in the UK and Australia.
The company was founded in 2011, but collapsed in March 2021.
Former Prime Minister David Cameron was a senior adviser for Greensill, and became embroiled in the scandal surrounding the firm after it was revealed he had lobbied senior ministers on behalf of the company.
BBC Panorama reported that Cameron received a total of £7.2m over a number of years from Greensill Capital before it went bust, which included the near £3.3m he received after selling his Greensill share options in 2019.
Back in July 2021, a probe into the lobbying efforts of Greensill Capital found Lex Greensill was given “extraordinarily privileged” access to the highest ranks of government.
A further parliamentary inquiry found that while Cameron didn’t break any rules lobbying for Greensill, his actions showed a “significant lack of judgement”.
The UK Insolvency Service is currently investigating Greensill’s executives, including Lex. If found guilty of misconduct, they could be disqualified from becoming a company director for up to 15 years.
The Department for Business and Trade declined to comment. Lawyers for Greensill were contacted for comment.
