Julie Bishop hired by finance firm Greensill

Julie Bishop’s new role is her first major corporate appointment since quitting Parliament prior to last year’s election.

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop addresses an event at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney. Picture: AAP

Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has joined a company headed by one of Australia’s youngest billionaires in her first major foray into business since leaving politics.

Ms Bishop has been appointed chair of the Asia-Pacific arm of Greensill Capital, the $US4bn ($5.8bn) fast-growing supply chain finance company run by 42-year-old London-based Lex Greensill and his 38-year-old brother Peter, a Queensland sugar cane farmer.

The role is her first major corporate appointment since leaving politics ahead of last May’s federal election, and will also include joining Greensill’s global advisory board ahead of a possible stockmarket float by the company later this year.

Ms Bishop, who was foreign minister under the Abbott and Turnbull governments until last year’s election, will continue to operate her consulting firm Julie Bishop & Partners.

The Greensill appointment adds to roles she has announced since ending her political career, including an advisory board role at US artificial intelligence firm Affiniti alongside former British Prime Minister David Cameron, and becoming a director of London-based international development consultancy Palladium and chancellor of the Australian National University.

Greensill Capital makes money by what is known as “reverse factoring”, where it acquires invoices and trade receivables from suppliers to its customers, which include the likes of Telstra and Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty House, and packages them into short-dated bonds to sell to investors such as banks and superannuation funds.

The company charges a fee and an interest rate for providing the finance and is now one of the biggest players in global supply chain financing.

Earlier this month Mr Greensill revealed to The Australian that it has plans to launch the Greensill pay app — its first consumer product offering — in June offerin, Australian workers the ability to be paid daily by their employers.

Lex Greensill last year said he aimed for the company to become a $US100bn enterprise, with operations in every corner of the globe over the next decade. A $US655bn investment by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank valued the Greensill group at $US4bn last October, with the Greensill brothers maintaining a majority shareholding.

Rich-lister Lex Greensill

Ms Bishop will provide strategic advice to Greensill as the company looks to step up its expansion in the Asian region, including across developing countries.

“Business, government and individuals can all benefit from greater efficiencies in the finance sector,” Ms Bishop said on Thursday.

“Innovative solutions pioneered by Greensill offer great potential to transform relationships throughout the world’s complex supply chains.”

Mr Greensill said he was delighted to have someone of Ms Bishop’s calibre join the firm.

“The ability to draw on Julie’s unparalleled experience and expertise – particularly her international credentials cemented during five years as Australia’s foreign minister – will be invaluable as we continue to unlock capital for businesses and people around the world,” he said.

Greensill’s last year tripled its profits, seeing its pre-tax profit surge to about $90m according to documents lodged with the corporate regulator. The company has already extended more than $US60bn in financing to more than 8 million customers in 60 countries since Lex Greensill founded the business in 2011.

The Greensill brothers grew up on the family farm near Bundaberg, where their brother Andrew also still works and where sugar cane, sweet potatoes and watermelon are farmed across 2000 hectares of land.