Administrators Grant Thornton held the first meeting of creditors of Greensill Capital Pty Ltd which owns the Greensill Group and provides administration and head office support to the group, but operates only in a limited capacity.

It said the claims so far were for $1.75 billion, the administrators have been put on notice about a contingent claim from the Association of German Banks.

“We understand that this contingent claim may be in the order of about €2 billion ($A3.08).”

Grant Thornton said that debt does not appear in the company’s accounts and has not been formally verified by the administrators.

Greensill Bank AG in Germany is wholly owned by Greensill Capital Pty Ltd. Greensill Bank AG entered into administration earlier this week. This is a separate administration and Greensill Capital Pty Ltd is an interested party in this matter.

A host of German councils were also owed about €500 million ($A769 million) and Softbank’s claim is understood to be $1.15 billion.

Greensills was mostly run from its London headquarters. The parent company is understood to be owned by the Greensill family, which still operates a sugar cane farm near Bundaberg, as well as Softbank’s Vision Fund, Credit Suisse and General Atlantic.

The FT reported earlier this week that the Greensill’s family trust also lent the company $60 million and that Lex Greensill cashed in about $US200 million worth of shares in the company in 2019.

The company collapsed earlier this month after Credit Suisse pulled the pin on its financing of the company when it discovered the company’s securities were not covered insurance.

Its business was in supply chain financing where Greensills would stand between a supplier and customer. It would pay the invoice and then collect a higher amount at a later time. It issued notes to cover the debt and Credit Suisse was its major buyer.

It all fell apart for Greensill as it was looking at a $US7 billion listing.

Grant Thornton said 59 creditors and their representatives, as well as representatives from the ATO, ASIC, the Attorney General’s Department, and the Association of German banks were at the meeting at which an update was provided on the administration and next steps in the process.

Creditors elected to appoint a committee of inspection comprising representatives from Softbank and Credit Suisse as well as a related party, an employee representative, and another creditor representative.

“The total value of claims submitted in the administration is in excess of $A1.75 billion but Grant Thornton said those claims had not been reviewed or adjudicated on by the administrators.

There were 34 individual creditor claims, excluding employees, but this number may increase as further claims are made in the administration.

The administrators met with employees of the parent entity and advised of the redundancies of 35 Greensill Capital Pty Ltd staff – all based in Australia.

A small number have been kept on to support the ongoing administration process.

A further report to creditors will be issued in approximately 3 weeks’ time, with the Second Meeting of Creditors due to be held on or around 22 April 2021.

At that meeting creditors will have an opportunity to vote on the company’s future, which is likely to be either liquidation or to accept a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) proposal should one be presented.

The administrators confirmed to creditors that, at this stage, they had not received a DOCA proposal for consideration.