Trans Union, IRSG Lose Battle to Stay Gramm-Leach-Bliley Implementation

The information industry has lost its bid to hold off implementation of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley financial services modernization act. As of July 1, companies will have to conform with its data-sharing restrictions.

The US District Court of Appeals, District of Colombia ruled on Thursday against a joint petition for a stay from Chicago-based Trans Union LLC and the Individual Reference Services Group (IRSG). The two requests, which had been filed separately, were combined into a single action on June 21.

In its ruling, the court determined that there was no showing of irreparable harm or likelihood of success on the merits of the case.

Trans Union had also appealed an April 30 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. Huvelle determined that credit bureaus must obtain permission from consumers before releasing basic credit header information, such as names, addresses and phone numbers. That appeal, which had been combined with the request for the stay, was denied.

The IRSG is an information industry association that includes Acxiom, CDB Infotek, First Data Solutions, Lexis-Nexis and Trans Union, among other organizations. It had been fighting the implementation date on behalf of the information industry.

The rejection of the requests will have the greatest impact on information firms