The High Court has rejected a privacy and data protection claim against Bloomberg over its report of a legal investigation into a businessman.

The court refused the man’s bid to get the article taken down because it was ruled to be a serious piece of journalism on a serious topic. It also said the publisher was protected from action under the Data Protection Act because it was covered by the journalism exemption.

Mr Justice Garnham said that in 2013 media organisations, including Bloomberg, reported an announcement by the law enforcement agency that it was conducting a criminal investigation into a company and noted that it was focusing on “allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption relating to the activities of the company or its subsidiaries”.