Greensill Capital and the securitisation of supply chain financing

Abstract

ABSTRACT The non-bank financial institution Greensill Capital pioneered platform-based supply chain financing and the securitisation of supply chain debt, then controversially extended the business to lending funds to firms in the productive economy based on anticipated future invoices. By rolling over these supposedly short-term and liquid loans, this mechanism provided unsecured long-term funding to risky businesses. The article examines how regulatory and political arbitrage, and the ambiguity of a positioning on the edge of legality, enabled Greensill to challenge the established boundaries between the financial and the productive domains.