London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 17, 2025

Greensill collapse: £335m of taxpayers' cash at 'increased risk' due to 'woefully inadequate' checks on firm David Cameron lobbied for

Greensill collapse: £335m of taxpayers' cash at 'increased risk' due to 'woefully inadequate' checks on firm David Cameron lobbied for

The Public Accounts Committee finds that "up to £335m of taxpayer money is at increased risk following the British Business Bank's failure to conduct sufficient due diligence" into Greensill, when it applied to be a lender for COVID schemes.

Hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money is at increased risk due to a failure to conduct sufficient checks on the now-collapsed finance firm that David Cameron lobbied for, a committee of MPs has found.

In a new report by the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee (PAC), on the lessons to be learned from the demise of Greensill Capital, the group of MPs have scrutinised a decision to allow the firm to be a lender under government-backed COVID support schemes.

The government-owned British Business Bank approved Greensill as a lender for both the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), as well as the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS).

Greensill loaned £400m under CLBILS, the maximum it was permitted to lend, and £18.5m under CBILS.

The ex-PM with the firm's founder, Lex Greensill, on a trip to Saudi Arabia in January 2020


But in March this year, Greensill - who employed former prime minister Mr Cameron as an adviser - filed for insolvency.

In their report, the PAC found that "up to £335m of taxpayer money is at increased risk following the British Business Bank's failure to conduct sufficient due diligence" into Greensill, when the firm applied to be an accredited lender under the COVID support schemes.

The MPs concluded that the Bank's "approach to due diligence in accrediting Greensill was woefully inadequate" and criticised the Bank for striking the "wrong balance" between "making decisions quickly" during the pandemic and "protecting taxpayer interests".

"In the case of Greensill, the Bank was insufficiently curious about media reports questioning Greensill's lending model, its over-exposure to borrowers, and ethical standards until problems were clear and hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money left exposed," their report added.

They also found that "a lack of information-sharing across government" had "once again hampered sound decision-making in government's response to the pandemic and allowed Greensill access to taxpayer-funded schemes".

The PAC also said the government had "not yet identified the broader lessons from its accreditation of Greensill or from its COVID-19 business support schemes" and added it was "essential that these lessons are identified".

In further criticism of the Bank, the MPs said it had been "insufficiently curious when identifying where money lent through the schemes, including by Greensill, has ultimately gone".

In a series of recommendations, the MPs called on the Bank to review its accreditation process, and for itself, the Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to publish a "full lessons-learned report" by July next year.

Mr Cameron has been reported to have made about £7m during his two-and-a-half years' part-time work for Greensill before its collapse, including a salary of £720,000 a year.

Earlier this year, the ex-prime minister was revealed to have bombarded ministers and officials - as well as the Bank of England - with WhatsApps, texts and emails in his pursuit of winning Greensill access to government-backed COVID support schemes.

Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the PAC, said: "The British Business Bank only had to read the papers to be aware of serious questions about Greensill's lending model, over-exposure to borrowers, and its ethical standards - yet it didn't really start to delve into those issues until the problems were clear and hundreds of millions of taxpayers' money was already at risk.

"It professed itself 'very surprised' to discover where these taxpayer-backed loans had gone on its watch, in contravention of its own lending and accreditation rules."

A government spokesperson said: "The government was not involved in the decision to accredit Greensill.

"The decision was taken independently by the British Business Bank, in accordance with their usual procedures."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
×