Mick Mulvaney, the former loan-shark lobbyist who killed plans to regulate payday lenders after being appointed chief of the Consumer Finance Protection Board, has effective abandoned the agency's efforts to punish Equifax for leaking the sensitive personal and financial information of at least 145,500,000 Americans.
According to sources cited by Reuters, the agency "has not ordered subpoenas against Equifax or sought sworn testimony from executives, routine steps when launching a full-scale probe" and cancelled plans for "on-the-ground tests of how Equifax protects data." They've also turned down offers of assistance from the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Under Cordray, the CFPB and FTC agreed to work together on the Equifax inquiry, sources said. But while the agencies have similar powers to investigate, only the FTC has issued a subpoena.And while Cordray had asked bank regulators to join in fresh cyber security exams of the bureaus, last month the CFPB told the regulators that no on-site exams were planned, so their help was not needed, said three officials, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Exclusive: U.S. consumer protection official puts Equifax probe on ice [Patrick Rucker/Reuters]
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