Three senior officials including the company’s chief business officer sold $1.8 million in shares within three days of the business learning on July 29 that hackers had breached personal data for up to 143 million Americans.
Equifax stated the breach publicly on Sept. 7. The exposure sparked public outcry, government investigations, a definite drop in the company’s share price and an administration shake-up.
Equifax lawyer Theodore Hester said in a letter dated Thursday to parts of Congress publishing the review that the company “takes these matters severely” and has retained lawyers.
In response to interrogations about whether the stock sales attacked insider trading laws, Equifax has said the officials did not know about the breach when making their sales, which were not prearranged.
The company said in a declaration the board has learned law firm WilmerHale to conduct a survey of the hacking incident and the company’s response “as well as a review of the events surrounding the speculation by certain of the company’s executives.”According to administrative filings, CFO John Gamble Jr sold shares on Aug. 1 for $946,000, while Joseph Loughran III, president of U.S. Information Solutions, sold $584,000 in stock on the same day. Rodolfo Ploder, director of Equifax’s Workforce Solutions business, sold $250,000 worth of stock on Aug. 2.
Equifax stock moved down 28 cents at $106.10 on Friday, a drop of more than 25 percent since early September.
The breach has provoked investigations by multiple federal and state agencies, including an illegal probe by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Earlier this week, the Atlanta-based company said Chief Executive Richard Smith would leave and forgo this year’s bonus.
Congressional representatives plan hearings next week with Smith.
Equifax said in a regulatory filing that it might claw back some of Smith’s return for this year, depending on results of the board’s inquiry into the breach, which the business has said occurred between mid-May and July.
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