| Entities | |
| Topics and Issues |
In March 2023, the FTC announced “an inquiry into the small business credit reporting industry, ordering five firms in that industry to provide the Commission with detailed information about their products and processes. The orders will be issued to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Information Solutions, Equifax, Ansonia Credit Data, and Creditsafe USA.” The orders were issued on a 4-0 vote.
A summary of that hearing, the video recording, and a transcript are available online.
In April 2022, the FTC announced that it “finalized an order against Dun & Bradstreet, a provider of business credit report services, for deceiving businesses about the value of products they offered and for failing to correct errors on businesses’ credit reports.”
Additional resources:
- Small Business 6(b) Model Cover Letter
- Small Business 6(b) Model Order
- Small Business 6(b) Resolution
- As noted by the FTC, Section 6(b) [of the FTC Act, 15 U.S. Code § 46(b)] “empowers the Commission to require an entity to file ‘annual or special . . . reports or answers in writing to specific questions’ to provide information about the entity’s ‘organization, business, conduct, practices, management, and relation to other corporations, partnerships, and individuals.’” Also, the “Commission’s 6(b) authority also enables it to conduct wide-ranging studies that do not have a specific law enforcement purpose. Section 6(f) authorizes the Commission to “make public from time to time” portions of the information that it obtains, where disclosure would serve the public interest.”
- Orrick blog