LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
−Removed: Litigation and Investigations related to the 2017 Cybersecurity Incident
−Removed: In 2017, we experienced a cybersecurity incident following a criminal attack on our systems that involved the theft of certain personally identifiable information of U.S., Canadian and U.K.
−Removed: Following the 2017 cybersecurity incident, hundreds of class actions and other lawsuits were filed against us typically alleging harm from the incident and seeking various remedies, including monetary and injunctive relief.
−Removed: We were also subject to investigations and inquiries by federal, state and foreign governmental agencies and officials regarding the 2017 cybersecurity incident and related matters.
−Removed: Most of these lawsuits and government investigations have concluded or been resolved, including pursuant to the settlement agreements described below, while others remain ongoing.
−Removed: The Company’s participation in these settlements does not constitute an admission by the Company of any fault or liability, and the Company does not admit fault or liability.
−Removed: Consumer Settlement
−Removed: On July 19, 2019 and July 22, 2019, we entered into multiple agreements that resolve the U.S.
−Removed: consolidated consumer class action cases, captioned In re:
−Removed: Equifax, Inc.
−Removed: Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No.
−Removed: 2800 (the “U.S.
−Removed: Consumer MDL Litigation”), and the investigations of the FTC, the CFPB, the Attorneys General of 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and the NYDFS (collectively, the “Consumer Settlement”).
−Removed: Under the terms of the Consumer Settlement, the Company agreed to contribute $380.5 million to a non-reversionary settlement fund (the “Consumer Restitution Fund”) to provide restitution for U.S.
−Removed: consumers identified by the Company whose personal information was compromised as a result of the 2017 cybersecurity incident as well as to pay reasonable attorneys’ fees and reasonable costs and expenses for the plaintiffs’ counsel in the U.S.
−Removed: Consumer MDL Litigation (not to exceed $80.5 million), settlement administration costs and notice costs.
−Removed: The Company has agreed to contribute up to an additional $125.0 million to the Consumer Restitution Fund to cover certain unreimbursed costs and expenditures incurred by affected U.S.
−Removed: consumers in the event the $380.5 million in the Consumer Restitution Fund is exhausted.
−Removed: The Company also agreed to various business practice commitments related to consumer assistance and its information security program, including conducting third party assessments of its information security program.
−Removed: On January 13, 2020, the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S.
−Removed: District Court overseeing centralized pre-trial proceedings for the U.S.
−Removed: Consumer MDL Litigation and numerous other federal court actions relating to the 2017 cybersecurity incident (the “MDL Court”), entered an order granting final approval of the settlement in connection with the U.S.
−Removed: Consumer MDL Litigation.
−Removed: The MDL Court entered an amended order granting final approval of the settlement (the “Final Approval Order”) on March 17, 2020.
−Removed: Several objectors appealed the Final Approval Order to the U.S.
−Removed: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (the “Eleventh Circuit”).
−Removed: On June 3, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit issued an order reversing the MDL Court’s grant of incentive awards to class representatives, but affirming all other aspects of the Final Approval Order.
−Removed: Several objectors filed petitions with the Eleventh Circuit seeking a rehearing, and on July 29, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit denied those petitions.
−Removed: On August 12, 2021, the MDL Court made the Eleventh Circuit’s mandate the judgment of the MDL Court.
−Removed: Two objectors filed petitions for a writ of certiorari with the U.S.
−Removed: Supreme Court, and on January 10, 2022, the U.S.
−Removed: Supreme Court denied the last remaining petition.
−Removed: On January 11, 2022, the Consumer Settlement became effective.
−Removed: Other Matters
−Removed: We face other lawsuits and government investigations related to the 2017 cybersecurity incident that have not yet been concluded or resolved.
−Removed: These ongoing matters may result in judgments, fines or penalties, settlements or other relief.
−Removed: We dispute the allegations in the remaining lawsuits and intend to defend against such claims.
−Removed: Set forth below are descriptions of the main categories of these matters.
−Removed: Georgia State Court Consumer Class Actions.
−Removed: Four putative class actions arising from the 2017 cybersecurity incident were filed against us in Fulton County Superior Court and Fulton County State Court in Georgia based on similar allegations and theories as alleged in the U.S.
−Removed: Consumer MDL Litigation and seek monetary damages, injunctive relief and other related relief on behalf of Georgia citizens.
−Removed: These cases were transferred to a single judge in the Fulton County Business Court and three of the cases were consolidated into a single action.
−Removed: On July 27, 2018, the Fulton County Business Court granted the Company’s motion to stay the remaining single case, and on August 17, 2018, the Fulton County Business Court granted the Company’s motion to stay the consolidated case.
−Removed: Because the plaintiffs in the four putative class actions did not opt out of the Consumer Settlement that became effective on January 11, 2022, these cases have been dismissed and are now closed.
Canadian Class Actions
+Added: In 2017, we experienced a cybersecurity incident following a criminal attack on our systems that involved the theft of personal information of consumers.
Five putative Canadian class actions, four of which are on behalf of a national class of approximately 19,000 Canadian consumers, are pending against us in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta.
−Removed: proposed Canadian class actions asserts a number of common law and statutory claims seeking monetary damages and other related relief in connection with the 2017 cybersecurity incident.
+Added: Each of the proposed Canadian class actions asserts a number of common law and statutory claims seeking monetary damages and other related relief in connection with the 2017 cybersecurity incident.
In addition to seeking class certification on behalf of Canadian consumers whose personal information was allegedly impacted by the 2017 cybersecurity incident, in some cases, plaintiffs also seek class certification on behalf of a larger group of Canadian consumers who had contracts for subscription products with Equifax around the time of the incident or earlier and were not impacted by the incident.
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We appealed one of the claims on which a class was certified and on June 9, 2021, our appeal was granted by the Ontario Divisional Court.
−Removed: The plaintiff has since filed a notice of further appeal with the Ontario Court of Appeal, which is scheduled to be heard in June 2022.
+Added: The plaintiff filed a notice of further appeal with the Ontario Court of Appeal, and on November 25, 2022, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the plaintiff’s appeal and upheld the Divisional Court’s ruling in our favor.
+Added: On January 24, 2023, the plaintiff appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.
All remaining purported class actions are at preliminary stages or stayed.
−Removed: Government Investigations.
−Removed: We have cooperated with federal, state and foreign governmental agencies and officials investigating or otherwise seeking information, testimony and/or documents, regarding the 2017 cybersecurity incident and related matters and these investigations have been resolved as discussed in prior filings.
+Added: FCA Investigation
The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) opened an enforcement investigation against our U.K.
−Removed: subsidiary, Equifax Limited, in October 2017.
+Added: subsidiary, Equifax Limited, in October 2017 in connection with the 2017 cybersecurity incident.
The investigation by the FCA has involved a number of information requirements and interviews.
−Removed: We continue to respond to the information requirements and are cooperating with the investigation.
−Removed: Although we continue to cooperate in the Canadian class action proceedings and the FCA investigation, an adverse outcome to any such proceedings and investigation could subject us to fines or other obligations, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
+Added: We have responded to the information requirements and continue to cooperate with the investigation.
+Added: At this time, we are unable to predict the outcome of this FCA investigation, including whether the investigation will result in any action or proceeding against us.
In December 2021, we received a Civil Investigative Demand (a “CID”) from the CFPB as part of its investigation into our consumer disputes process in order to determine whether we have followed the FCRA's requirements for the proper handling of consumer disputes.
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We are cooperating with the CFPB in its investigation and are in discussions with the CFPB regarding our response to the CID.
−Removed: At this time, we are unable to predict the outcome of this CFPB investigation, including whether the investigation will result in any action or proceeding against us.
+Added: In addition, in January 2023, the CFPB informed us that its enforcement division will be investigating our previously-disclosed coding issue identified within a legacy server environment in the U.S.
+Added: slated to be migrated to the new Equifax cloud infrastructure which impacted how some credit scores were calculated during a three-week period in 2022.
+Added: We are cooperating with the CFPB in its investigation.
+Added: At this time, we are unable to predict the outcome of these CFPB investigations, including whether the investigations will result in any actions or proceedings against us.
Equifax has been named as a defendant in various other legal actions, including administrative claims, regulatory matters, government investigations, class actions and other litigation arising in connection with our business.
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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.