The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into Fair Isaac, the financial company whose credit scores underlie nearly all US consumer credit decisions, according to information obtained by POLITICO.
The probe follows years of complaints from rivals about Fair Isaac’s dominance, and comes amid efforts by Congress and financial regulators to inject more competition into the credit score market. Fair Isaac’s FICO scores are a measure of risk that banks and credit card companies use to make lending decisions, and are used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine creditworthiness of mortgage applicants.
The exact scope of the DOJ’s antitrust investigation isn’t yet known. The agency recently sent letters to Fair Issac and others in the consumer credit industry asking them to preserve documents, according to a person knowledgeable about the case who was not authorized to speak about it. Such hold-letters are the first step in an investigation.
Fair Isaac, also known as FICO, confirmed the existence of the probe Sunday, saying it focuses on “potential exclusionary conduct.”
“FICO intends to fully cooperate with the Department of Justice and looks forward to a constructive dialogue about the state of competition in our industry,” the company said in a statement. “FICO is confident the Department will conclude that it has not engaged in any exclusionary conduct.”
Full Content: Politico, PR Newswire
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
T-Mobile Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Sprint Merger After Appeal Denied
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
Google Faces Backlash Over Introduction of AI-Generated Summaries in Searches
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
CMA Launches Phase 2 Probe into AlphaTheta’s Acquisition of Serato
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
NFL Executive Escapes Testifying in High-Stakes Trial Over Televised Games
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
EU Consumers Lodge Complaint Against Chinese Retailer Temu Over Content Rules Breach
May 16, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Mapping Antitrust onto Digital Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystems and Competition Law: A Law and Political Economy Approach
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystem Theories of Harm: What is Beyond the Buzzword?
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Open Ecosystems: Benefits, Challenges, and Implications for Antitrust
May 9, 2024 by
CPI