, Columnist
SoftBank Invests in an Opaque $100 Billion Industry
More and more companies are using intermediaries like Greensill to pay their suppliers early. It’s a part of accounting in desperate need of transparency.
SoftBank is investing in an emerging industry that might have $2 trillion to play with: Supply chain finance.
Photographer: Bloomberg/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
About $1 billion of shareholder wealth went up in smoke last week when GMT Research – a Hong Kong firm that tries to hunt down anomalies in financial reports – accused the Australian construction group Cimic Group Ltd. of using creative accounting to inflate its profits.
Cimic is controlled by Germany’s Hochtief AG and contributes most of its earnings, while Hochtief is majority-owned by Spanish construction giant ACS.