from reporting that former Bermuda businessman Mr. Mark Hardy is seeking to wind up a giant accoutning firm.

Mr. Hardy, the former chief of the defunct Forum and Focus insurance companies, is seeking to wind up Coopers & Lybrand, which he claims is an illegal association under the British Companies Act.

The UK firm of chartered accountants obtained the order on Friday, in an attempt to prevent the UK media from further reporting of Mr. Hardy's latest move.

In the High Court of Justice Chancery Division, Companies Court, before the Hon. Mr. Justice Harman, Coopers obtained an order restraining Mr. Hardy "from doing whether by himself, his servants or agents or any of them, or otherwise howsoever the following act, that is, advertising the petition herein, including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, notifying anyone of the petition or its presentation in any way whatsoever.'' Mr. Hardy is not allowed to refer to or deliver copies to anyone involving the matter.

It came after The Independent newspaper reported on Thursday that Coopers, the UK's largest firm of receivers was itself, facing a winding-up petition served by Mr. Hardy.

The story documented how between 1990 and 1992, Mr. Hardy's "three Bermuda-based insurance companies (Focus Insurance, Forum Re and Aneco Re) were put in the hands of liquidators from Coopers'' and how Mr. Hardy was bankrupted by Coopers last year.

The newspaper quotes a Coopers spokesman who said: "We know Mr. Hardy very well. It's another of the actions he has taken, a part of his campaign against this firm. We are considering our position. No doubt we will be asking to have the petition struck out.'' The paper reports Coopers' view of Mr. Hardy's allegations. "It's an irritant, nothing more,'' a source told the Independent.

A long running claim by Mr. Hardy is at the centre of Thursday's petition, that Coopers is an illegal association under the UK Companies Act. The case brought by Mr. Hardy against Coopers has been set down for January 11.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hardy is back in court in London today, on a related matter. He is objecting to an application from Coopers & Lybrand for an injunction to delay British regulators' investigation of them in the Robert Maxwell affair.

The Department of Trade & Industry is waiting to hear the results of an investigation by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) into Mr. Hardy's allegations concerning the accountancy firm.