‘Serious problems were afoot’ at Greensill’s Australian insurer
afr.comMarsh McLennan breached its own rules by failing to warn a client of Greensill Capital that it was “patently obvious” there were serious problems at an insurance agency linked to IAG, courts have been told.
Greensill Capital, founded by Australian financier Lex Greensill, collapsed in early 2021, with clients and creditors trying to recover billions of dollars via legal claims made against the firm’s insurers including IAG.
One party left short was international private equity group White Oak, which had invested in a scheme managed by Greensill Capital between April 2020 and February 2021. That scheme was linked to debts owed by customers of Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Commodities business.
The collapse of Lex Greensill’s eponymous finance firm has set off a series of lawsuits. Peter Craig
In filings in England’s High Court of Justice, White Oak says it lost $US142 million ($221 million) on money not repaid after the scheme collapsed “disastrously”.
It says it is owed this amount – plus interest and further losses from investments it would have otherwise made – from Greensill Capital’s broker, Marsh.
The US$94 billion broker, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, sourced insurance policies from Bond & Credit Co (BCC) – which was half owned by IAG – on behalf of Greensill Group entities.
IAG is already defending some $7 billion in claims made against it by various parties related to Greensill Capital.
Marsh’s code of conduct, named The Greater Good, tells employees to “speak up” if “something doesn’t feel right”. “You have a right – and an obligation – to raise your concerns,” it says. Marsh employees are also required to “make appropriate disclosure to clients or other business partners when mistakes occur or when conflicts
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