Alec Hogg: R15bn knock for investors in SA “Greensill” called Barak

With plenty to occupy us with at home, many South Africans missed the collapse of Australian banker Lex Greensill's creation that was directly responsible for the creation of Europe's fourth largest steel company. Greensill and his associate Sanjeev Gupta (now in Dubai, go figure) cost their backers billions, aming them Japan's Softbank which has written off $1.5bn.

Also read: Alec Hogg: Following Magda into her booming 4IR fund

The house of cards was collapsed by German authorities after investigators discovered Greensill's Bremen-based bank had advanced funds to Gupta's steel company on fictitious invoices. After Credit Suisse pulled a $10bn credit line, the implosion took under a week. The 35 000 workers in Gupta's quickfire steel and aluminium empire are now praying for a miracle.

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