Congress Prevents Consumers from Suing Companies Like Equifax

The Senate voted Tuesday night to eradicate a contentious rule that would have allowed Americans to file class-action suits against banks instead of being coerced in many cases into private arbitration.

No Democrats or independents favored the move. All but two Republicans — John Kennedy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — voted to revoke the rule.

George Slover, senior policy counsel for Consumers Union, declared the vote “means that big financial companies can lock the courthouse doors and prevent consumers who’ve been mistreated from joining together to seek the relief they deserve under the law.”

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(URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/business/senate-vote-wall-street-regulation.html )