GOP's Kelly Loeffler fought changes to credit reporting — as her husband made $10 billion deal off it: report

On Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported that Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) opposed changes to credit reporting regulations — shortly before her husband inked a $10 billion deal to acquire a company that stood to lose money from such changes.

"Democrats had been pushing to suspend negative credit score reporting in the wake of COVID-19's economic impact. But that was strongly opposed by the so-called Big Three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. And one of those three, Equifax, happens to be headquartered in Atlanta, Loeffler's hometown," reported Sam Brodey.

"But shortly after she signed the letter, its purpose became neatly aligned with her personal financial interests as well. In August, Intercontinental Exchange — the company run by Loeffler's husband, Jeffrey Sprecher — announced a $10 billion acquisition of home loan data giant Ellie Mae, which had stood to be hurt by the proposal for a credit reporting moratorium," The Daily Beast reported.

Credit reporting agencies have been the center of criticism for years, for a system that disproportionately favors creditworthiness of wealthy borrowers; errors that needlessly cost people credit; security breaches that have exposed people's personal data; and marketing their services for things like employer background checks that do not have a credible purpose.

Loeffler, who is in a competitive runoff that will decide control of the Senate, has previously faced criticism for suspiciously-timed stock trades while receiving COVID-19 classified briefings — although she denies she had any involvement in the trades and investigations have not determined she broke any laws.

You can read more here (requires subscription).