Credit Suisse will suspend a set of funds linked to specialist finance firm Greensill, which in turn maintains close ties to British steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta.
Zurich-based Credit Suisse is suspending a set of supply chain funds due to swerves in the valuation, effective immediately. The funds are jointly run with Greensill, a U.K. specialist finance operation that provides short-term liquidity for companies, against their receivables in the future.
«In order to protect the interests of all investors in the Credit Suisse supply chain finance funds, Credit Suisse asset management fund boards have suspended the redemptions and subscriptions in these funds,» the bank said in a note to investors. «A certain part of the sub-funds’ assets is currently subject to considerable uncertainties with respect to their accurate valuation,» the bank said.
The move follows a report by «The Wall Street Journal» (behind paywall) that Credit Suisse wanted to minimize its ties with Greensill because it was worried about Sanjeev Gupta, a British billionaire client of Greensill. The firm, run by Australian banker Lex Greensill, has financed Gupta's copious acquiring distressed industrial assets in the U.K. and Europe like steel mills.
