Greensill Capital Attempts to Halt Lawsuit, Files for Bankruptcy in the US

The remnants of Greensill Capital, the UK financing company that collapsed earlier this year, filed for bankruptcy in the US, aiming to halt litigation filed by one of its biggest clients, a coal-mining company owned by the governor of West Virginia.

Greensill’s US bankruptcy filing on Wednesday seeks to halt a lawsuit brought earlier this year by coal supplier Bluestone Resources and its owners, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and his family, according to court papers filed in the US Bankruptcy Court in New York.

A lawyer representing Bluestone in the litigation against Greensill didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to Greensill itself, the lawsuit also named its founder, Lex Greensill. The defendants haven’t formally answered the complaint, filed in New York federal court.

Greensill’s administrators said Wednesday they hope to have a bankruptcy judge hear the petition for bankruptcy protection before a 13 September deadline to respond to Bluestone’s complaint. Typically, US bankruptcy courts must agree to take up a foreign insolvency before companies can receive the benefits of bankruptcy, such as halting litigation.