UK bans financier Lex Greensill from being company director for nine years

LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - Britain said it would ban Australian financier Lex Greensill, founder of supply chain financing firm Greensill Capital which collapsed with huge losses in 2021, from acting as a company director for nine years.

The company collapsed after one of its main insurers declined to renew its cover. Its UK arm had liabilities of over £1.6 billion ($2.15 billion), causing heavy losses for investors and prompting lawsuits and regulatory probes.

"A nine-year ban is a significant period - above the average for director disqualifications - and reflects the serious nature of Lex Greensill’s conduct," Britain's Insolvency Service Chief Executive Duncan Beach said in a statement on Thursday.

Greensill's conduct breached his legal duty under British rules to exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence as a company director, the agency's statement said.

"After four years of investigation, this matter has concluded with no finding that Mr Greensill acted dishonestly or in bad faith," his spokesman said in a statement.

Separately, Greensill's proceedings against the government's business and trade department over the disclosure of his private information during the Insolvency Service's investigation, continue, the spokesman said.

The Insolvency Service declined to comment on the matter while litigation is ongoing.

It said that Greensill had signed a disqualification undertaking, a legally binding agreement where directors do not dispute certain facts to end court action. A six-week trial had been due to begin on June 8 but will no longer go ahead.

His ban, which comes into effect on June 23, prevents him from acting as a director or being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

($1 = 0.7440 pounds)

(Reporting by Muvija M; editing by William James and Sarah Young)