Greensill: British Chancellor of the Exchequer in the crosshairs

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer was in the crosshairs on Friday, accused by the opposition of having broken "

ministerial rules

" and granted preferential treatment to the bankrupt financial firm Greensill, through the intermediary of the ex-Prime Minister David Cameron.

Read also: The fall of Greensill, financial house of cards

The UK Treasury released several messages sent last April by Chancellor Rishi Sunak that Mr Cameron, then employed by Greensill as an adviser, had contacted Mr Sunak to request access for the company to a program emergency government loans in the context of the pandemic.

In one of the messages, Mr. Sunak, whose title of Chancellor of the Exchequer is equivalent to that of Minister of Finance, says that he "

pushed his team

" to study Mr. Cameron's request, which notably asked for certain modifications to the regulations. terms of the program, a request ultimately refused.

A "

full investigation"

requested

A parliamentary lobbying oversight body ruled that the former prime minister, a conservative like Rishi Sunak, did not break any rules by contacting a minister or senior officials directly.

On the other hand, the main Labor official in charge of the economy, Anneliese Dodds, estimated that "

the Chancellor's messages to David Cameron raise very serious questions about possible breaches of the ministerial code

" by Mr. Sunak, she tweeted on Friday. .

She calls for a "

full investigation into why Greensill had access to millions of pounds in government loans

" against the economic impact of Covid-19.

The Liberal Democratic Party, also in opposition, for its part considered that the exchanges between Mr. Cameron and Mr. Sunak "reek of

nepotism

", also calling for "

all transparency

" on the affair.

Greensill Capital, which specializes in short-term loans through a form of factoring, financed companies such as billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's steel empire, GFG Alliance, one of its main clients.

Greensill had been approved to issue state-guaranteed government loans under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) large business program.

The finance company filed for bankruptcy in early March after an insurer refused to renew coverage on some of its loans.

The fall of Greensill now puts the GFG Alliance on the verge of insolvency, which employs 5,000 people in the United Kingdom and 35,000 worldwide, with sites in France such as the Ascoval steelworks in Saint-Saulve (north) and the Hayange rail factory (Moselle).

Read also: Greensill's bankruptcy forces the state to rescue the Ascoval steelworks

According to the Financial Times, the total exposure of the state and therefore of UK taxpayers to Greensill and GFG Alliance amounts to £ 1 billion.

A figure that did not wish to comment on the British Treasury, questioned by AFP.