Now UBS is getting involved in the Greensill debacle: The race to repay assets from the blocked Greensill funds has begun for Credit Suisse. This is now complicated following a surprise involvement by Switzerland's largest bank.

Credit Suisse (CS) has already repaid more than $3 billion to investors in the blocked Greensill funds, according to media reports. More than $10 billion in assets are blocked in the funds – which means that the larger and less liquid part of the repayment is still to be completed.

One of many hurdles in this race for CS: The Swiss bank's decision to unwind the funds has sent its Australian-British fund partner, Greensill Capital, into bankruptcy.

Deal on Hold

Companies such as the conglomerate GFG Alliance, which was dependent on the Greensill financing, are thus also threatened with over-indebtedness. If the entire Greensill structure implodes, it will probably be much more difficult for CS to spare its fund clients losses.

It is therefore a crucial task to implement the orderly liquidation of Greensill Capital. In the past days, a deal has started to emerge. The American financial investor Apollo wanted to take over operational parts of Greensill Capital – in particular, the distribution machinery of debtor financing to companies – via a subsidiary. However, as «Reuters» reported with reference to anonymous sources, this deal is surprisingly on hold.

Financier From Switzerland: UBS

Reuters locates the reason for this with San Francisco-based fintech Taulia. Taulia worked closely with Greensill Capital in the past and in turn distributed financing to companies.

Taulia has now raised $6 billion to shore up its own operations and the financing of its corporate clients against the Greensill fallout. Taulia's backers are U.S. bank J.P. Morgan, Spain's BBVA, Italy's Unicredit – and Switzerland's UBS.

Armchair Dance Turns Faster

While the cash injection shores up the Greensill structure from collapse in the short term, it complicates its resolution in the medium term. As the agency further reported, Taulia apparently also fears that a deal between Apollo and Greensill could be bad for its own business.

With this complication, the armchair dance over who bears the potential Greensill losses enters another round. A tough legal battle over insurance coverage on positions in Greensill funds is bound to ensue.

CS Wants to Collect Money

Meanwhile, CS itself is trying to collect a $140 million loan from Greensill Capital via the Australian firm McGrathNicol. This, while the U.S. law firm Pomerantz is trying to gather investors for a claim for damages against CS.