Equifax 10-K 2021-12-31

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number 001-06605

EQUIFAX INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 404-885-8000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

Indicate by check mark if Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Exchange Act (“Act”). ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark if Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). ☐ Yes ☒ No

As of June 30, 2021, the aggregate market value of Registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of Registrant was approximately $29,179,641,497 based on the closing sale price as reported on the New York Stock Exchange. At January 31, 2022, there were 122,084,603 shares of Registrant’s common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of Registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its 2022 annual meeting of shareholders are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Overview

Equifax Inc. is a global data, analytics and technology company. We provide information solutions for businesses, governments and consumers, and we provide human resources business process automation and outsourcing services for employers. We have a large and diversified group of clients, including financial institutions, corporations, government agencies and individuals. Our services are based on comprehensive databases of consumer and business information derived from numerous sources including credit, financial assets, telecommunications and utility payments, employment, income, educational history, criminal history, healthcare professional licensure and sanctions, demographic and marketing data. We use advanced statistical techniques, machine learning and proprietary software tools to analyze available data to create customized insights, decision-making and process automation solutions and processing services for our clients. We are a leading provider of information and solutions used in payroll-related and human resource management business process services in the United States of America (“U.S.”). For consumers, we provide products and services to help people understand, manage and protect their personal information and make more informed financial decisions. Additionally, we also provide information, technology and services to support debt collections and recovery management.

We currently operate in four global regions: North America (U.S. and Canada), Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and India), Europe (the United Kingdom (“U.K.”), Spain and Portugal) and Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay). We maintain support operations in the Republic of Ireland, Chile, Costa Rica and India. We also offer Equifax-branded credit services in Russia through a joint venture, have investments in consumer and/or commercial credit information companies through joint ventures in Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore and have an investment in a consumer and commercial credit information company in Brazil.

Equifax was originally incorporated under the laws of the State of Georgia in 1913, and its predecessor company dates back to 1899. As used herein, the terms Equifax, the Company, we, our and us refer to Equifax Inc., a Georgia corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries as a combined entity, except where it is clear that the terms mean only Equifax Inc.

We are organized and report our business results in three operating segments, as follows:

• Workforce Solutions — provides services enabling customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal history, healthcare professional licensure and sanctions (Verification Services) of people in the U.S., as well as providing our employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating certain payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship, including unemployment cost management, employee screening, employee onboarding, tax credits and incentives, I-9 management and compliance, tax form management services and Affordable Care Act management services (Employer Services). In the last four years, Workforce Solutions has established operations in Canada, Australia and more recently in the U.K.

• U.S. Information Solutions (“USIS”) — provides consumer and commercial information solutions to businesses in the U.S. including online information, decisioning technology solutions, identity management services, analytical services, fraud management services, portfolio management services, mortgage reporting and marketing services. We provide products to consumers in the U.S. to enable them to understand and monitor their credit and help protect their identity. We also sell consumer credit information to resellers who may combine our information with other information to provide direct-to-consumer monitoring, reports and scores.

• International — provides products and services similar to those available in the USIS operating segment but with variations by geographic region. We also provide information, technology and services to support debt collections and recovery management. In addition, we also provide products to consumers in Canada, the U.K. and Australia to enable them to understand and monitor their credit and help protect their identity. This operating segment is comprised of our Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Canada business units. It also includes our joint ventures in Russia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore and investment in a consumer and commercial credit information company in Brazil.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, we integrated our Global Consumer Solutions business into our USIS, Workforce Solutions and International operating segments. U.S. consumer credit monitoring solutions businesses have been moved into the Online Information Solutions business of USIS with the U.S. consumer identity theft protection business moved to the Employer Services business of Workforce Solutions. All international consumer credit monitoring solutions businesses in Canada and Europe have been moved into the respective country operations within the International operating segment. These changes in operating segments align with how we manage our business as of the fourth quarter of 2021. All segment disclosures within this Form 10-K have been restated to reflect this change in reportable segments.

Our Business Strategy

Our vision is to be a trusted global leader in data, advanced analytics and technology that creates innovative solutions and insights for our customers. Our business strategy is driven by the following imperatives:

• Leverage our Equifax cloud capabilities and technology investment to accelerate innovation, new products and growth. We are executing a cloud data and technology transformation that is rebuilding our technology infrastructure, including a migration to a public cloud environment that employs virtual private cloud deployment techniques. We are rationalizing and rebuilding our application portfolio using cloud-native services. Our move to cloud-native technology is enabling the creation of our single data fabric and implementation of best-in-class cloud-based tools and capabilities. Our growth strategy is to leverage our cloud data and technology transformation to accelerate innovation and new product development; deliver market-leading capabilities to our customers; facilitate customer and partner implementation and integration; improve ease of consumer access to and interaction with Equifax; and strengthen system resiliency and uptime.

• Leverage and expand our differentiated portfolio of data assets. We use proprietary advanced analytical platforms, including capabilities in machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced visualization tools, to leverage our unique data to develop leading analytical insights that enhance the precision of our customers’ decisioning activities. Based on our cloud native data and technology transformation, we are investing to simplify our customers’ access to our leading analytical platforms, in order to speed the development of unique insights and the conversion of these insights into innovative new products and services consumable by our customers through our delivery platforms. We strive to advance these capabilities and bring our customers multi-data solutions at scale by expanding our unique and differentiated data assets and analytics through organic growth, M&A and partnerships.

• Foster a culture of customer centricity. We are focused on maintaining a culture in which the customer is at the center of our decision processes and we exceed customer expectations by delivering solutions with speed, flexibility, stability and performance. We prioritize engagement with our customers and strive to accelerate innovatio

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All of the risks and uncertainties described below and the other information included in this Form 10-K should be considered and read carefully. The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. The occurrence of any of the following risks or additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. This Form 10-K also contains forward-looking statements and estimates that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of specific factors, including the risks and uncertainties described below.

Technology and Data Security Risks

Security breaches and other disruptions to our information technology infrastructure could compromise Company, consumer and customer information, interfere with our operations, cause us to incur significant costs for remediation and enhancement of our IT systems and expose us to legal liability, all of which could have a substantial negative impact on our business and reputation.

We are a global data, analytics and technology company. In the ordinary course of business, we collect, process, transmit and store sensitive data, including intellectual property, proprietary business information and personally identifiable information of consumers, employees and strategic partners. The secure operation of our information technology networks and systems, and of the processing and maintenance of this information, is critical to our business operations and strategy. Because our products and services involve the storage and transmission of personal information of consumers, we are routinely the target of attempted cyber and other security threats by outside third parties, including technically sophisticated and well-resourced bad actors attempting to access or steal the data we store. Additionally, we could experience service disruptions or a loss of access to critical data or systems due to ransomware or other destructive attacks. Insider or employee cyber and security threats are also a significant concern for all companies, including ours. Despite our substantial investment in physical and technological security measures, employee training and contractual precautions, our information technology networks and infrastructure (or those of our third-party vendors and other service providers) are potentially vulnerable to unauthorized access to data, loss of access to systems or breaches of confidential information due to criminal conduct, attacks by hackers, employee or insider malfeasance and/or human error.

The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems are constantly evolving and often are not recognized until launched against a target, or even some time after. We may be unable to anticipate these techniques, implement adequate preventative measures or remediate any intrusion on a timely or effective basis even if our security measures are appropriate, reasonable, and/or comply with applicable legal requirements. Certain efforts may be state-sponsored and supported by significant financial and technological resources, making them even more sophisticated and difficult to detect. Further, we are in the process of transforming our applications and infrastructure technologies, and this transition to cloud-based technologies may expose us to additional cyber threats as we migrate our data from our legacy systems to cloud-based solutions hosted by third parties. Although we have developed systems and processes that are designed to protect our data and customer data and to prevent data loss and other security breaches, and expect to continue to expend significant additional resources to bolster these protections, these security measures cannot provide absolute security.

In 2017, we experienced a cybersecurity incident following a criminal attack on our systems that involved the theft of personally identifiable information of U.S., Canadian and U.K. consumers. If we experience additional significant breaches of our security measures, including from incidents that we fail to detect for a period of time, sensitive data may be accessed, stolen, disclosed or lost. Any such access, disclosure or other loss of information could subject us to significant litigation, regulatory fines or penalties, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flows, competitive position, financial condition or results of operations. We cannot ensure that our insurance policies in the future will be adequate to cover losses from any security breaches.

Security breaches and attacks, and the adverse publicity that may follow, can have a negative impact on our reputation and our relationship with our customers. For example, our reputation with consumers and other stakeholders and our customer relationships were damaged following the 2017 cybersecurity incident, resulting in a negative impact on our revenue for a period of time. If we experience another material cybersecurity incident or are otherwise unable to demonstrate the security of our systems and the data we maintain and retain the trust of our customers, consumers and data suppliers, we could experience a substantial negative impact on our business.

If we fail to achieve and maintain key industry or technical certifications, our customers and business partners may stop doing business with us and we may not be able to win new business, which would negatively affect our revenue.

We are required by customers and business partners to obtain various industry or technical certifications. Such certifications are critical to our business because certain of our current and potential customers and the contracts governing certain customer relationships, as well as certain of our data suppliers, require us to maintain them as a requirement of doing business. For example, as a result of the 2017 cybersecurity incident, we lost certain key certifications which caused certain customers and business partners to stop or pause doing business with us and temporarily limited our ability to win new business. We had to spend significant resources on remediation activities in order to obtain these key re-certifications. If we fail to achieve or maintain key industry or technical certifications as a result of another cybersecurity incident or for other reasons, customers and business partners may stop doing business with us and we may not be able to win new business, which would negatively affect our revenue.

Strategy and Market Demand Risks

Our business has been and may continue to be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We face various risks related to health epidemics, pandemics and similar outbreaks, including the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and the mitigation efforts by governments to attempt to control its spread have adversely impacted the global economy, leading to reduced consumer spending and lending activities. Our customers, and therefore our business and revenues, are sensitive to negative changes in general economic conditions. We experienced significant revenue declines in several of our markets as a result of COVID-19. We expect that the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operating revenue will continue until health and economic conditions improve.

We continue to work with our stakeholders (including customers, employees, consumers, suppliers, business partners and local communities) to responsibly address this global pandemic. We will continue to monitor the situation and assess possible implications to our business and our stakeholders and will take appropriate actions in an effort to mitigate adverse consequences. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in any such mitigation efforts. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic w

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None.

Our executive offices are located at 1550 Peachtree Street, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia. Our other properties are geographically distributed to meet sales and operating requirements worldwide. We consider these properties to be both suitable and adequate to meet our current operating requirements. We ordinarily lease office space for conducting our business and are obligated under more than 60 leases and other rental arrangements for our field locations. We owned 5 office buildings at December 31, 2021, including our executive offices, one campus which houses our Alpharetta, Georgia technology center, a building utilized by our Workforce Solutions operations located in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as two buildings utilized by our Latin America operations.

For additional information regarding our obligations under leases, see Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Form 10-K. We believe that suitable additional space will be available to accommodate our future needs.

Litigation and Investigations related to the 2017 Cybersecurity Incident

In 2017, we experienced a cybersecurity incident following a criminal attack on our systems that involved the theft of certain personally identifiable information of U.S., Canadian and U.K. consumers. Following the 2017 cybersecurity incident, hundreds of class actions and other lawsuits were filed against us typically alleging harm from the incident and seeking various remedies, including monetary and injunctive relief. We were also subject to investigations and inquiries by federal, state and foreign governmental agencies and officials regarding the 2017 cybersecurity incident and related matters. Most of these lawsuits and government investigations have concluded or been resolved, including pursuant to the settlement agreements described below, while others remain ongoing. The Company’s participation in these settlements does not constitute an admission by the Company of any fault or liability, and the Company does not admit fault or liability.

Consumer Settlement

On July 19, 2019 and July 22, 2019, we entered into multiple agreements that resolve the U.S. consolidated consumer class action cases, captioned In re: Equifax, Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 2800 (the “U.S. Consumer MDL Litigation”), and the investigations of the FTC, the CFPB, the Attorneys General of 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and the NYDFS (collectively, the “Consumer Settlement”). Under the terms of the Consumer Settlement, the Company agreed to contribute $380.5 million to a non-reversionary settlement fund (the “Consumer Restitution Fund”) to provide restitution for U.S. consumers identified by the Company whose personal information was compromised as a result of the 2017 cybersecurity incident as well as to pay reasonable attorneys’ fees and reasonable costs and expenses for the plaintiffs’ counsel in the U.S. Consumer MDL Litigation (not to exceed $80.5 million), settlement administration costs and notice costs. The Company has agreed to contribute up to an additional $125.0 million to the Consumer Restitution Fund to cover certain unreimbursed costs and expenditures incurred by affected U.S. consumers in the event the $380.5 million in the Consumer Restitution Fund is exhausted. The Company also agreed to various business practice commitments related to consumer assistance and its information security program, including conducting third party assessments of its information security program.

On January 13, 2020, the Northern District of Georgia, the U.S. District Court overseeing centralized pre-trial proceedings for the U.S. Consumer MDL Litigation and numerous other federal court actions relating to the 2017 cybersecurity incident (the “MDL Court”), entered an order granting final approval of the settlement in connection with the U.S. Consumer MDL Litigation. The MDL Court entered an amended order granting final approval of the settlement (the “Final Approval Order”) on March 17, 2020. Several objectors appealed the Final Approval Order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (the “Eleventh Circuit”). On June 3, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit issued an order reversing the MDL Court’s grant of incentive awards to class representatives, but affirming all other aspects of the Final Approval Order. Several objectors filed petitions with the Eleventh Circuit seeking a rehearing, and on July 29, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit denied those petitions. On August 12, 2021, the MDL Court made the Eleventh Circuit’s mandate the judgment of the MDL Court. Two objectors filed petitions for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, and on January 10, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the last remaining petition. On January 11, 2022, the Consumer Settlement became effective.

Other Matters

We face other lawsuits and government investigations related to the 2017 cybersecurity incident that have not yet been concluded or resolved. These ongoing matters may result in judgments, fines or penalties, settlements or other relief. We dispute the allegations in the remaining lawsuits and intend to defend against such claims. Set forth below are descriptions of the main categories of these matters.

Georgia State Court Consumer Class Actions. Four putative class actions arising from the 2017 cybersecurity incident were filed against us in Fulton County Superior Court and Fulton County State Court in Georgia based on similar allegations and theories as alleged in the U.S. Consumer MDL Litigation and seek monetary damages, injunctive relief and other related relief on behalf of Georgia citizens. These cases were transferred to a single judge in the Fulton County Business Court and three of the cases were consolidated into a single action. On July 27, 2018, the Fulton County Business Court granted the Company’s motion to stay the remaining single case, and on August 17, 2018, the Fulton County Business Court granted the Company’s motion to stay the consolidated case. Because the plaintiffs in the four putative class actions did not opt out of the Consumer Settlement that became effective on January 11, 2022, these cases have been dismissed and are now closed.

Canadian Class Actions. Five putative Canadian class actions, four of which are on behalf of a national class of approximately 19,000 Canadian consumers, are pending against us in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Each of the

proposed Canadian class actions asserts a number of common law and statutory claims seeking monetary damages and other related relief in connection with the 2017 cybersecurity incident. In addition to seeking class certification on behalf of Canadian consumers whose personal information was allegedly impacted by the 2017 cybersecurity incident, in some cases, plaintiffs also seek class certification on behalf of a larger group of Canadian consumers who had contracts for subscription products with Equifax around the time of the incident or earlier and were not impacted by the incident.

On December 13, 2019, the court in Ontario granted certification of a nationwide class that includes all impacted Canadians as well as Canadians who had subscription products with Equifax between March 7, 2017 and July 30, 2017 who were not impacted by the incident. We appealed one of the claims on which a class was certified and on June 9, 2021, our appeal was granted by the Ontario Divisional Court. The plaintiff has since filed a notice of further appeal with the Ontario Court of Appeal, which is scheduled to be heard in June 2022. All remaining purported class actions are at preliminary stages or stayed.

Government Investigations. We have cooperated with federal, state and foreign governmental agencies and officials investigating or otherwise seeking information, testimony and/or documents, regarding the 2017 cybersecurity incident and related matters and these investigations have been resolved as discussed in prior filings.

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) opened an enforcement investigation against our U.K. subsidiary, Equifax Limited, in October 2017. The investigation by the FCA has involved a number of information requirements and interviews. We continue to respond to the information requirements and are cooperating with the investigation.

Although we continue to cooperate in the Canadian class action proceedings and the FCA investigation, an adverse outcome to any such proceedings and investigation could subject us to fines or other obligations, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

CFPB Matter

In December 2021, we received a Civil Investigative Demand (a “CID”) from the CFPB as part of its investigation into our consumer disputes process in order to determine whether we have followed the FCRA's requirements for the proper handling of consumer disputes. The CID requests the production of documents and answers to written questions. We are cooperating with the CFPB in its investigation and are in discussions with the CFPB regarding our response to the CID. At this time, we are unable to predict the outcome of this CFPB investigation, including whether the investigation will result in any action or proceeding against us.

Other

Equifax has been named as a defendant in various other legal actions, including administrative claims, regulatory matters, government investigations, class actions and other litigation arising in connection with our business. Some of the legal actions include claims for substantial compensatory or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. We believe we have defenses to and, where appropriate, will contest many of these matters. Given the number of these matters, some are likely to result in adverse judgments, penalties, injunctions, fines or other relief. We may explore potential settlements before a case is taken through trial because of the uncertainty and risks inherent in the litigation process.

For information regarding our accounting for legal contingencies, see Note 6 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this report.

Not applicable.

PART II

Equifax’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “EFX.” As of January 31, 2022, Equifax had approximately 2,766 holders of record; however, Equifax believes the number of beneficial owners of common stock exceeds this number.

Shareholder Return Performance Graph

The graph below compares Equifax’s five-year cumulative total shareholder return with that of the Standard & Poor’s Composite Stock Index (S&P 500) and a peer group index, the S&P 500 Banks Index (Industry Group). The graph assumes that the value of the investment in our Common Stock and each index was $100 on the last trading day of 2016 and that all quarterly dividends were reinvested without commissions. Our past performance may not be indicative of future performance.

COMPARATIVE FIVE-YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN AMONG EQUIFAX INC., S&P 500 INDEX AND S&P 500 BANKS INDEX (INDUSTRY GROUP)

The table below contains information with respect to purchases made by or on behalf of Equifax of its common stock during the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021:

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

(1) The total number of shares purchased includes, if applicable: (a) shares purchased pursuant to our publicly-announced share repurchase program, or Program; and (b) shares surrendered, or deemed surrendered, in satisfaction of the exercise price and/or to satisfy tax withholding obligations in connection with the exercise of employee stock options and vesting of restricted stock, totaling 18,889 share for the month of October 2021, 3,870 shares for the month of November 2021 and 25,572 shares for the month of December 2021.

(2) Average price paid per share for shares purchased as part of our Program (includes brokerage commissions).

(3) We purchased 0.4 million common shares during the twelve months ended December 31, 2021. At December 31, 2021, the amount authorized for future share repurchases under the Program was $520.2 million.

Information relating to compensation plans under which the Company’s equity securities are authorized for issuance will be included in the section captioned “Equity Compensation Plan Information” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

Not applicable.

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand the results of operations and financial condition of Equifax Inc. MD&A is provided as a supplement to and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying Notes to Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Form 10-K. This section discusses the results of our operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 and the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the year ended December 31, 2019. All percentages have been calculated using unrounded amounts for each of the periods presented.

As used herein, the terms Equifax, the Company, we, our and us refer to Equifax Inc., a Georgia corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries as a combined entity, except where it is clear that the terms mean only Equifax Inc.

All references to earnings per share data in MD&A are to diluted earnings per share, or EPS, unless otherwise noted. Diluted EPS is calculated to reflect the potential dilution that would occur if stock options or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised and resulted in additional common shares outstanding.

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

Equifax Inc. is a global data, analytics and technology company. We provide information solutions for businesses, governments and consumers, and we provide human resources business process automation and outsourcing services for employers. We have a large and diversified group of clients, including financial institutions, corporations, government agencies and individuals. Our services are based on comprehensive databases of consumer and business information derived from numerous sources including credit, financial assets, telecommunications and utility payments, employment, income, educational history, criminal history, healthcare professional licensure and sanctions, demographic and marketing data. We use advanced statistical techniques, machine learning and proprietary software tools to analyze available data to create customized insights, decision-making and process automation solutions and processing services for our clients. We are a leading provider of information and solutions used in payroll-related and human resource management business process services in the U.S. For consumers, we provide products and services to help people understand, manage and protect their personal information and make more informed financial decisions. Additionally, we also provide information, technology and services to support debt collections and recovery management.

We currently operate in four global regions: North America (U.S. and Canada), Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and India), Europe (the United Kingdom, or U.K., Spain and Portugal) and Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay). We maintain support operations in the Republic of Ireland, Chile, Costa Rica and India. We also offer Equifax-branded credit services in Russia through a joint venture, have investments in consumer and/or commercial credit information companies through joint ventures in Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore and have an investment in a consumer and commercial credit information company in Brazil.

Recent Events and Company Outlook

As further described above, we operate in the U.S., which represented 78% of our revenue in 2021, and internationally in 23 countries. Our products and services span a wide variety of vertical markets including financial services, mortgage, federal, state and local governments, automotive, telecommunications and many others.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization designated the novel coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) as a global pandemic. During 2020 and 2021, we followed applicable requirements and protocols published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, and federal, state and local governments. We have relied on our business continuity plans at various times, which has periodically resulted in a portion of our employee population working remotely, depending on their role. To date, the change to our working environment has not caused material disruptions in the execution of our strategic plans and has not impacted our internal controls, financial reporting systems or operations. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain and may affect certain markets or regions we serve differently.

Demand for our services tends to be correlated to general levels of economic activity and to consumer credit activity, small commercial credit and marketing activity and employee hiring and onboarding activity. Demand is also enhanced by our initiatives to expand our products, capabilities and markets served. The impact of COVID-19 and related actions to attempt to control its spread began to impact our consolidated operating results in the first quarter of 2020. During 2020, overall revenue grew reflecting strong U.S. mortgage market demand in 2020 compared to 2019 and growth across our Workforce Solutions business. The impact on the operating results in each country in which we operate differed based on the conditions and the

vertical markets we serve in that country with the impact of the pandemic experienced most severely by our International business. In 2021, as efforts to minimize the spread of COVID-19 have been more successful and access to vaccinations has increased, our consolidated revenue grew when compared to 2020, reflecting recovering country economies, growth from Equifax initiatives and, to a lesser extent, revenue from acquired companies. A more thorough discussion of our business unit results are included under the heading “Segment Financial Results” in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation section of this Form 10-K.

For 2022, our planning assumes economies in which we operate to continue to show growth relative to 2021. In the U.S., 2022 economic activity, as measured by GDP, is expected to grow but not at the same rate of growth experienced in 2021. We expect modest growth in consumer credit, excluding mortgage, over the course of 2022. Our plan assumes the U.S. mortgage market as measured by credit inquiries is expected to decline by greater than 20 percent in 2022 versus 2021. The U.S. mortgage market, particularly the mortgage refinance portion of the U.S. mortgage market, can be significantly impacted by U.S. interest rates and therefore mortgage rates. In the International markets in which we operate, we expect 2022 economic activity, as measured by GDP, to improve but less than the rates of growth experienced in 2021.

In light of the evolving health, social, economic and business environment, governmental regulations or mandates, and business disruptions that could occur, the potential impact that COVID-19 could have on our financial condition and operating results remains unclear.

For more information, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Our business has been and may continue to be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” in this Form 10-K.

Segment and Geographic Information

In the fourth quarter of 2021, we integrated our Global Consumer Solutions business into our USIS, Workforce Solutions and International operating segments. U.S. consumer credit monitoring solutions businesses have been moved into the Online Information Solutions business of USIS with the U.S. consumer identity theft protection business moved to the Employer Services business of Workforce Solutions. All international consumer credit monitoring solutions businesses in Canada and Europe have been moved into the respective country operations within the International operating segment. These changes in operating segments align with how we manage our business as of the fourth quarter of 2021. Segment financial results and related discussion and analysis have been restat

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In the normal course of our business, we are exposed to market risk, primarily from changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates that could impact our results of operations and financial position. We manage our exposure to these market risks through our regular operating and financing activities and, when deemed appropriate, through the use of derivative financial instruments, such as interest rate swaps, to hedge certain of these exposures. We use derivative financial instruments as risk management tools and not for speculative or trading purposes.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk

A substantial majority of our revenue, expense and capital expenditure activities are transacted in U.S. dollars. However, we do transact business in other currencies, primarily the British pound, the Australian dollar, the Canadian dollar, the Chilean peso, the Argentine peso and the Euro. For most of these foreign currencies, we are a net recipient, and, therefore, benefit from a weaker U.S. dollar and are adversely affected by a stronger U.S. dollar relative to the foreign currencies in which we transact significant amounts of business.

We are required to translate, or express in U.S. dollars, the assets and liabilities of our foreign subsidiaries that are denominated or measured in foreign currencies at the applicable year-end rate of exchange on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and income statement items of our foreign subsidiaries at the average rates prevailing during the year. We record the resulting translation adjustment, and gains and losses resulting from the translation of intercompany balances of a long-term investment nature within other comprehensive income, as a component of our shareholders’ equity. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses, which have historically been immaterial, are recorded on our Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss). We generally do not mitigate the risks associated with fluctuating exchange rates, although we may from time to time through forward contracts or other derivative instruments hedge a portion of our translational foreign currency exposure or exchange rate risks associated with material transactions which are denominated in a foreign currency.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, a 10% weaker U.S. dollar against the currencies of all foreign countries in which we had operations during 2021 would have increased our revenue by $107.4 million and our pre-tax operating profit by $13.6 million. For the year ended December 31, 2020, a 10% weaker U.S. dollar against the currencies of all foreign countries in which we had operations during 2020 would have increased our revenue by $92.9 million and our pre-tax operating profit by $8.6 million. A 10% stronger U.S. dollar would have resulted in similar decreases to our revenue and pre-tax operating profit for 2021 and 2020.

On average across our mix of international businesses, foreign currencies at December 31, 2021 were weaker against the U.S. dollar than the average foreign exchange rates that prevailed across the full year 2020. As a result, if foreign exchange rates were unchanged throughout 2021, foreign exchange translation would reduce growth as reported in U.S. dollars. As foreign exchange rates change daily, there can be no assurance that foreign exchange rates will remain constant throughout 2022, and rates could go either higher or lower.

Interest Rate Risk

Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates to our variable-rate CP, the Revolver and term loan borrowings. We attempt to achieve the lowest all-in weighted-average cost of debt while simultaneously taking into account the mix of our fixed- and variable-rate debt and the average life and scheduled maturities of our debt. At December 31, 2021, our weighted average cost of debt was 3.2% and weighted-average life of debt was 5.4 years. At December 31, 2021, 81% of our debt was fixed rate and the remaining 19% was variable rate. Occasionally we use derivatives to manage our exposure to changes in interest rates by entering into interest rate swaps. A 100 basis point increase in the weighted-average interest rate on our variable-rate debt would have increased our 2021 interest expense by $10.2 million.

Based on the amount of outstanding variable-rate debt, we have exposure to interest rate risk. In the future, if our mix of fixed-rate and variable-rate debt were to change due to additional borrowings under existing or new variable-rate debt, we could have additional exposure to interest rate risk. The nature and amount of our long-term and short-term debt, as well as the proportionate amount of fixed-rate and variable-rate debt, can be expected to vary as a result of future business requirements, market conditions and other factors.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Equifax Inc.

Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited Equifax Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“2013 framework”) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Equifax Inc. (the Company) maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on the COSO criteria.

As indicated in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting, management’s assessment of and conclusion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting did not include the internal controls of Kount Inc. and Appriss Insights, which is included in the 2021 consolidated financial statements of the Company and constituted 0.6% of consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2021 and 1.7% of revenues for the year then ended. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting of the Company also did not include an evaluation of the internal control over financial reporting of Kount Inc. and Appriss Insights.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of income (loss), comprehensive income (loss), cash flows, and shareholders’ equity and accumulated other comprehensive loss for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a)(2) and our report dated February 24, 2022 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Atlanta, Georgia

February 24, 2022

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Shareholders and the Board of Directors of Equifax Inc.

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Equifax Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of income (loss), comprehensive income (loss), cash flows, and shareholders’ equity and accumulated other comprehensive loss for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes and financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a)(2) (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Com

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None.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of Equifax’s disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report (i) were appropriately designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and (ii) were effective and provided reasonable assurance that the information required to be disclosed by Equifax in reports filed under the Exchange Act is (a) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and (b) accumulated and communicated to Equifax’s management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer and effected by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that:

• pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect transactions and dispositions of our assets;

• provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and

• provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Our management assessed the effectiveness of Equifax’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013 Framework). Based on this assessment using those criteria, our management concluded that, as of December 31, 2021, Equifax’s internal control over financial reporting was effective. Management reviewed the results of its assessment with the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors. The effectiveness of Equifax’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, Equifax’s independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report, which appears in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Form 10-K on page 55.

On February 10, 2021, the Company acquired Kount, a provider of fraud prevention and digital identity solutions in the U.S. Additionally, the Company acquired Appriss Insights, a source of risk and criminal justice intelligence information in the U.S., on October 1, 2021. As permitted by Securities and Exchange Commission guidance, we elected to exclude Kount and Appriss Insights, representing total assets (excluding goodwill and identified intangible assets) of approximately 0.6% of our consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2021 and operating revenues of 1.7% of our consolidated operating revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021, from our assessment of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. There were no other acquisitions completed during 2021 that were material to the 2021 consolidated financial statements.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the foregoing that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

None.

PART III

Except for the information about our executive officers shown below, the information required by this Item 10 is incorporated herein by reference from the information contained in our Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC in connection with the solicitation of proxies for our 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “2022 Proxy Statement”) under the sections entitled “Proposal 1 Election of Directors,” “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” and “Board Leadership and Corporate Governance—Committees of the Board of Directors.”

We have adopted a written Code of Ethics and Business Conduct applicable to all our employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, and principal accounting officer and controller, and to members of our Board of Directors. Our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct is available on our investor relations website: www.equifax.com/about-equifax/corporate-governance. We will disclose amendments to certain provisions of our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, or waivers of such provisions granted to executive officers and directors, on this website.

Executive Officers

Information regarding the executive officers of Equifax Inc. is set forth below.

Mark W. Begor (63) has been our Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors since April 2018. Prior thereto, he was a Managing Director in the Industrial and Business Services group at Warburg Pincus, a global private equity investment firm, since June 2016. Prior to Warburg Pincus, Mr. Begor spent 35 years at General Electric Company (“GE”), a global industrial and financial services company, in a variety of operating and financial roles. During his career at GE, Mr. Begor served in a variety of roles leading multibillion dollar units of the company, including President and CEO of GE Energy Management from 2014 to 2016, President and CEO of GE Capital Real Estate from 2011 to 2014, and President and CEO of GE Capital Retail Finance (Synchrony Financial) from 2002 to 2011. Mr. Begor served on the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) board of directors from 2016 to 2018. He currently serves on the board of directors of NCR Corporation.

Sunil Bindal (47) has been our Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Development Officer since October 2020. Prior to joining Equifax, Mr. Bindal served as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Development, at Total System Services since July 2018. Prior thereto, he served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Broadridge Financial Solutions since August 2015. Prior thereto, he served as Director, Technology Mergers and Acquisitions, of Credit Suisse since July 2006.

Carla Chaney (51) has been our Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer since April 2019. Prior thereto, she served as Executive Vice President, Human Resources of Graphic Packaging Holding Company and Graphic Packaging International, since July 2013. Prior thereto, she served as Executive Vice President, Human Resources and Communications, since February 2012. Prior thereto, she held a variety of leadership roles with Exide Technologies and Newell Rubbermaid, Inc., since 2004.

Jamil Farshchi (44) has been our Executive Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer since February 2018. Prior to joining Equifax, Mr. Farshchi served as Chief Information Security Officer at The Home Depot since April 2015. Prior thereto, he was the first Global Chief Information Security Officer at Time Warner Inc., from August 2014 to March 2015. Prior thereto, he was the Vice President of Global Information Security at Visa Inc. from August 2011 to August 2014. Mr. Farshchi has also held senior roles at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sitel Corporation, Nextwave Broadband and NASA.

John W. Gamble, Jr. (59) has been our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer since February 2021. Prior thereto, he was Corporate Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since May 2014. Prior to that, Mr. Gamble was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Lexmark International, Inc., a global provider of document solutions, enterprise content management software and services, printers and multifunction printers, from September 2005 until May 2014.

Julia A. Houston (51) has been our Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer since March 2021. Prior thereto, she was our Chief Transformation Officer since October 2017. Prior thereto, she was Senior Vice President, U.S. Legal, since October 2013. Prior to joining Equifax, Ms. Houston was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Convergys Corporation, from 2011 to 2013. Prior thereto, she served in roles of increasing responsibility at Mirant Corporation from 2004 to 2010, ultimately serving as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary.

John J. Kelley III (61) has been our Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since January 2013. Prior to joining Equifax, Mr. Kelley was a senior partner in the Corporate Practice Group of the law firm of King & Spalding LLP.

Bryson Koehler (46) has been our Executive Vice President, Chief Technology, Product and D&A Officer since December 2021. Prior thereto, he was our Chief Technology Officer since June 2018. Prior to joining Equifax, Mr. Koehler served as Chief Technology Officer of IBM Watson and Cloud Platform since November 2016. Prior to that, Mr. Koehler was Chief Technology and Information Officer of The Weather Channel Companies, before it was acquired in 2015 by IBM. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President of Global Revenue & Guest Technology at the Intercontinental Hotels Group.

Lisa Nelson (58) has been our Executive Vice President, President, International since June 2021. Prior thereto, she served as Group Managing Director, Equifax Australia and New Zealand, since August 2019. Prior thereto, she served as President and General Manager, Equifax Canada, since January 2015. Prior thereto, she served as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Alliance Leader of Equifax U.S. Information Solutions, since November 2011. Prior to joining Equifax, she served as Vice President, Global Scoring Solutions of FICO, since August 2004.

Rodolfo O. Ploder (61) has been our Executive Vice President, President, Workforce Solutions since November 2015. Prior thereto, he served as President, U.S. Information Solutions, since April 2010. Prior thereto, he served as President, International, from January 2007 to April 2010. Prior thereto, he was Group Executive, Latin America from February 2004 to January 2007.

Sid Singh (44) has been our Executive Vice President, President, U.S. Information Solutions since February 11, 2019. Mr. Singh served as group president of Integrated Solutions & Vertical Markets at Global Payments Inc., since February 2013. Prior thereto, he served as Senior Vice President, Global Product of Global Payments Inc. since 2010. Prior thereto, he served as Vice President and Regional Head, Asia Pacific of Global Payments Inc. since 2006. Prior thereto, he held senior management positions with HSBC and Citibank.

The information required by this Item 11 is incorporated herein by reference from the information contained in our 2022 Proxy Statement under the sections entitled “Executive Compensation” and “Director Compensation.”

The information required by this Item 12 is incorporated herein by reference from the information contained in our 2022 Proxy Statement under the sections entitled “Security Ownership of Management and Certain Beneficial Owners” and “Executive Compensation Equity Compensation Plan Information.”

The information required by this Item 13 is incorporated herein by reference from the information contained in our 2022 Proxy Statement under the sections entitled “Board Leadership and Corporate Governance Director Independence, ” “Related Person Transaction Policy” and “Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions of Directors, Executive Officers, and 5 Percent Shareholders.”

The information required by this Item 14 is incorporated herein by reference from the information contained in our 2022 Proxy Statement under the section entitled “Proposal 3 Ratification of Appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for 2022.”

PART IV

**(a)**List of Documents Filed as a Part of This Report:

(1) Financial Statements. The following financial statements are included in Item 8 of Part II:

• Consolidated Balance Sheets — December 31, 2021 and 2020;

• Consolidated Statements of Income (Loss) for the Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019;

• Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) for the Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019;

• Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019;

• Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss for the Years Ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019; and

• Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

(2) Financial Statement Schedules.

• Schedule II — Valuation and Qualifying Accounts

All other schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulation of the SEC are not required under the related instructions or are inapplicable and, therefore, have been omitted.

(3) Exhibits. See exhibits listed under Part (b) below.

**(b)**Exhibits:

• Filed herewith

**Schedules and exhibits to this agreement have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. A copy of any omitted schedule and/or exhibit will be furnished as a supplement to the Securities and Exchange Commission upon request.

(c) Financial Statement Schedules. See Item 15(a)(2).

None.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on February 24, 2022.

We, the undersigned directors and executive officers of Equifax Inc., hereby severally constitute and appoint John W. Gamble, Jr. and James M. Griggs, and each of them singly, our true and lawful attorneys with full power to them and each of them to sign for us, and in our names in the capacities indicated below, any and all amendments to this Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC, hereby ratifying and confirming our signatures as they may be signed by our said attorneys to any and all amendments to said Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities indicated on February 24, 2022.

SCHEDULE II — VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS

2021

2020

2019