When SoftBank’s Vision Fund invested about $800m into Greensill, the fast-growing UK finance company, in May, a press release touted its plans to “accelerate new technology” and expand into China, Brazil and India.

In fact, the bulk of the money was poured into a 92-year-old bank based in Bremen, Germany. The Greensill subsidiary bills itself as a “traditional” institution that takes deposits and makes loans to small businesses.