Former U.K. Prime Minister Lobbied BOE for Greensill Covid Loans

(Bloomberg) -- Former Prime Minister David Cameron made several approaches to the Bank of England last year in hopes of securing financial support for the now-defunct finance firm Greensill Capital, the central bank said Tuesday.

Cameron, an adviser and shareholder in Greensill, approached the BOE to secure access to Covid rescue loans in the spring, the central bank said.

The news follows a report that Cameron also sent multiple text messages to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in April 2020, in hopes of gaining access to the Covid Corporate Financing Facility, according to the Sunday Times newspaper.

Cameron’s interventions with the BOE were first reported by Channel 4 News Monday. Advisers to the former prime minister didn’t reply to a request for comment.

Greensill was ineligible for the joint Treasury and BOE lending program, which provides cheap government-backed loans to larger firms, because financial firms are excluded. The supply chain finance firm collapsed this month, owing more than $1.3 billion to creditors and putting U.K.-based companies reliant on its funding at risk.

Under the CCFF, the BOE purchases commercial paper, with maturity of up to a year, issued by large firms making a “material contribution” to the U.K. economy.

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