On April 30, the U.S. House passed the Senior Security Act of 2019, HR 1876. This Act:
- Mandates the SEC to establish an interdivisional task force to investigate and combat financial exploitation of seniors
- Authorizes a comprehensive Government Accountability Office (GAO) study of the economic impact and consequences of senior financial exploitation
While the Senior Safe Act, signed into law by President Trump on May 24, 2018, combats financial exploitation and abuse of senior investors, the proposed SEC task force would further investigate these dangers. Additionally the force would coordinate with authorities at all federal, state, and local levels to formulate recommendations to Congress regarding additional protective measures.
HR 1876 was passed by wide, bipartisan approval in the House, and subsequently sent to the Senate for consideration. Such noncontroversial bills generally pass Senate approval. However, there is no proposed timeline for Senate review, and our current, volatile political environment makes any prediction difficult.
- While preparation toward compliance with the Senate’s ultimate version of HR 1876 may be premature, broker/dealers should immediately implement training to satisfy mandates of the Senior Safe Act.
- One of our new CE courses, Senior Safe Act, focuses on the applicability and training requirements of the Act, which offers immunity to firms that report potential exploitation of seniors.
- Our Sales Practices for Senior Clients and Supervising Senior Accounts courses also address this area of expanding social concern and regulatory scrutiny.
With a U.S. population of citizens aged 65 and older at approximately 50 million and rising, firms must prepare for ever increasing attention on their treatment of this market!
Contact the National Regualtory Services (NRS®) company today to find out how we can help.