Greensill Capital is a UK-based commercial finance company which filed for bankruptcy protection in early March. The company had focused on providing financing to companies using supply chain financing and other related receivables finance services. 

The bankruptcy appears to have been the result of a combination of factors: unusual underwriting practices (by Greensill, their primary financier and their credit insurer); the cancellation of their credit insurance policy; the cessation of their source of financing by their largest funder and financial intermediary;  related party transactions inclusive of financing, as well as obtaining financing from one of their investors and in turn using such funding to finance the investor’s own affiliates.

While the final outcome remains to be seen in the ongoing saga, it is clear the circumstances are not typical for a supply chain finance institution.