German administrators to take control of Greensill Australia
Administrators appointed to the Greensill Bank in Germany will take control of Lex Greensill’s Australian operations.
Administrators appointed to the Greensill Bank in Germany will take control of Lex Greensill’s Australian operations, as they probe his collapsed financial empire.
The German administrators have been recognised by Australia’s Federal Court, granting them the power to take control of the Australian operations.
Greensill Bank’s administrator, Michael Frege, asked the Federal Court to recognise German insolvency proceedings which began on March 16, and to rule that German administrators could take control over the bank’s assets in Australia and seize information, using the same powers Australian liquidators would be given.
Federal Court judge Paul Anastasiou ruled in favour of the administrators, noting he was satisfied there was a “proper basis” to permit the action. He granted the power to administrators to examine witnesses.
However he restricted that power to directors of Greensill “without there first being an application in the usual way to a registrar for the public examination of a person”.
But Justice Anastasiou noted it was “unlikely that any profit was generated in Australia” through Greensill’s operations here.
A revised set of orders will be submitted to Justice Anastasiou on Thursday afternoon.
Additional information will be published by Justice Anastasiou on the release of his formal reasons.
Thursday’s application was observed by representatives of BBC Property Limited and Tokyo Marine management.
The court battle comes as creditors clamour for cash from Lex Greensill’s collapsed financial empire.
The administrators struck the Australian assets after German regulators ordered Greensill Bank be placed into administration.
Mr Frege, who was appointed by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority known as BaFin, previously acted for creditors in the collapse of the US Lehman brothers financial services company.
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