Richard Smith, CEO and chairman of Equifax, abruptly retired Tuesday following a data breach at the credit-reporting service that affected the personal information of 143 million people. Equifax shares traded up 0.8 percent Tuesday afternoon. They have fallen 26 percent in September after the company revealed the breach. The announcement was made Tuesday by Mark Feidler, a current board member, who will serve as nonexecutive chairman. Paulino do Rego Barros Jr., president of company's Asia Pacific region, has been appointed as interim CEO. Smith, who was 57 as of the company's proxy statement in March, became CEO and chairman in 2005 after 22 years at General Electric in senior roles in various divisions. He is to appear at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on Oct. 4 and is the only person scheduled to testify. He is also scheduled to testify next week at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Equifax CEO Richard F. Smith. Noah Berger | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In a statement Tuesday, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii and member of the banking committee, said Smith's departure just days before his scheduled appearances in Congress "is an abdication of his responsibility." "I fully expect Mr. Smith to testify before the Banking Committee next week, regardless of the timing of his retirement," Schatz said. Earlier on Twitter, the House Energy and Commerce Committee said Smith would testify on Oct. 3. An Equifax spokeswoman said in an email she was working on a response to whether Smith would still testify. The breach has sparked multiple investigations at the state and federal level, including the Department of Justice in Atlanta, where Equifax is based, and the Federal Trade Commission. The company said its chief information officer and chief security officer retired earlier this month. Three other executives, including the chief financial officer, have drawn scrutiny for selling $1.8 million of company stock just days after the breach was discovered internally but nearly six weeks before it was announced to the public.