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Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee yesterday demanded answers from Equifax about its major data breach, including pressing for more details about three Equifax executives who sold shares after the breach was discovered, the New York Times reported today. The stock sales have added to the consumer backlash over the breach, which may have compromised the Social Security numbers and other sensitive information of 143 million Americans. Three senior executives, including the company’s chief financial officer, John W. Gamble Jr., sold shares worth almost $1.8 million in the days after the breach was discovered, but before it was disclosed. The shares were not part of a sale planned in advance. The letter — from the committee’s leaders, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) — asked for a timeline of the breach. It pushed for specifics on when the three executives, which also included Rodolfo O. Ploder and Joseph M. Loughran III, were notified of the problem.

The Senate last week unanimously approved legislation by Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) clarifying Congress’ intent to allow family farmers to more easily reorganize their finances when they fall on hard times, according to a press release on Friday. As a part of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, Congress passed a provision to address the unique financial situations of family farmers who are reorganizing their assets following bankruptcy.  However, a 2012 Supreme Court ruling found that the 2005 law, as written, failed to achieve Congress’ express goal of helping family farmers. Grassley and Franken’s Family Farmer Bankruptcy Clarification Act of 2017 rectifies the Supreme Court ruling by clarifying congressional intent. The Family Farmer Bankruptcy Clarification Act reiterates Congress’ earlier action to enable bankrupt family farmers reorganizing their debts to treat capital gains taxes owed to a governmental unit, arising from the sale of farm assets during a bankruptcy, as general unsecured claims. It also removes the Internal Revenue Service’s veto power over a bankruptcy reorganization plan’s confirmation, giving the family farmer a chance to reorganize successfully.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced yesterday that a bill he sponsored to extend temporary bankruptcy judgeships has passed the Senate, according to a press release. The bill calls for a five-year extension for 14 temporary bankruptcy judgeships and will create four new bankruptcy judgeships. With this bill, Delaware will retain its one permanent bankruptcy judge, will receive extensions of its five temporary bankruptcy judges and will receive an additional two temporary bankruptcy judgeships for five years to handle the heavy caseload for the district. Read more. 

Click here to read the bill text of S. 1107, the “Bankruptcy Judgeship Act of 2017.”

Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) is one of a handful of lawmakers who could squash the finance industry’s dream of tweaking a key Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulation on arbitration agreements. So far, he’s not saying whether he will or won’t, Bloomberg News reported. The CFPB's new rule would make it easier for customers to sue financial institutions, and banks have spent millions to keep arbitration as the required venue for dispute resolution instead. The CFPB rule restricts financial firms from forcing consumers to resolve their disputes through closed-door arbitration instead of addressing grievances in open court. Consumer advocates argue that without it, banks can’t be held accountable for cheating customers. Banks hate the rule because it opens them up to costly class-action lawsuits. Republican lawmakers say that the CFPB used a flawed method to create the rule. In their attempts to reverse the rule, Republicans are relying on the Congressional Review Act, which lets lawmakers undo regulations with a simple majority within 60 legislative days of their publication. The House of Representatives has already passed a measure reversing the rule. Senators, led by Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho, have introduced their own version. Republicans can only afford to lose two votes from their own party if it is to pass the Senate.