Wall Street Journal gagged over UK Libor names
The Wall Street Journal's (WSJ) European banking editor David Enrich has been ordered by the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to refrain from publishing the names of people the government plans to implicate in a criminal fraud case alleging Libor fixing.
The court order means that Mr Enrich cannot publish "any names in the indictments other than those of Tom Hayes, Terry Farr and James Gilmour" in any publication in England and Wales.
The WSJ was ordered to take down a report yesterday that disclosed the names of traders and brokers expected to be publicly named next week – the government's investigation into the manipulation of benchmark interest rates is ongoing.
The WSJ described the suppression as "a serious affront to press freedom". Mr Enrich was threatened by the SFO with fines, imprisonment or the freezing of his assets should the names appear in any media in England and Wales.
The report will appear in the WSJ's US and Asia print editions.