REYKJAVIK, Iceland – A court in Iceland lifted a gag order Tuesday that allowed Kaupthing Bank to prevent media coverage of a leaked file that discloses details of the bank's weak position shortly before it collapsed in October.
The Reykjavik district magistrate lifted the order only hours after Kaupthing itself yielded to public pressure to stop pushing for the ban. The injunction had forbidden further coverage of a risk analysis report that had been leaked via the WikiLeaks whistleblower Web site.
National broadcaster RUV reported on the leaked document, prompting wider interest in the report.
The internal document compiled for the bank's loan committee showed that Kaupthing made multiple huge loans to a number of companies that left it dangerously exposed to their potential collapse. In addition, the most important borrowers were the bank's biggest shareholders.
