Senior Security Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 856 To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to create an interdivisional taskforce at the Securities and Exchange Commission for senior inves- tors, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2021 Ms. SINEMA (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to create an interdivisional taskforce at the Securities and Ex- change Commission for senior investors, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Senior Inves- 4 tor Initiative Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Senior Security Act 5 of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 856 IS SEC. 2. SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE. 1 Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 2 U.S.C. 78d) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(k) SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE.— 5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 6 ‘‘(A) the term ‘appropriate committees of 7 Congress’ means— 8 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Banking, 9 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 10 ‘‘(ii) the Special Committee on Aging 11 of the Senate; and 12 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Financial 13 Services of the House of Representatives; 14 and 15 ‘‘(B) the term ‘senior investor’ means an 16 investor who is older than 65 years of age. 17 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 18 within the Commission the Senior Investor 19 Taskforce (referred to in this subsection as the 20 ‘Taskforce’). 21 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 22 head of the Taskforce shall be the Director, who 23 shall— 24 ‘‘(A) report directly to the Chairman; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 856 IS ‘‘(B) be appointed by the Chairman, in 1 consultation with the Commission, from among 2 individuals— 3 ‘‘(i) currently employed by the Com- 4 mission or from outside of the Commis- 5 sion; and 6 ‘‘(ii) having experience in advocating 7 for the interests of senior investors. 8 ‘‘(4) STAFFING.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman shall 10 ensure that— 11 ‘‘(i) the Taskforce is staffed suffi- 12 ciently to carry out fully the requirements 13 of this subsection; and 14 ‘‘(ii) the staff described in clause (i) 15 includes individuals from the Division of 16 Enforcement, the Office of Compliance In- 17 spections and Examinations, and the Of- 18 fice of Investor Education and Advocacy. 19 ‘‘(B) MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 21 public may serve as a member of the 22 Taskforce. 23 ‘‘(ii) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The Chair- 24 man shall provide to any member of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 856 IS public serving as a member of the 1 Taskforce travel expenses, including per 2 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au- 3 thorized for an employee of an agency 4 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 5 United States Code, while away from the 6 home or regular place of business of the 7 member in the performance of the duties 8 of the Taskforce. 9 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member 10 of the Taskforce who is an employee of any 11 agency, office, or other establishment in the ex- 12 ecutive, legislative, or judicial branch of the 13 Federal Government shall receive no additional 14 compensation for performing the duties of the 15 member with respect to the Taskforce. 16 ‘‘(5) MINIMIZING DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.— 17 In organizing and staffing the Taskforce, the Chair- 18 man shall take such actions as may be necessary to 19 minimize the duplication of efforts within the divi- 20 sions and offices described in paragraph (4)(A)(ii) 21 and any other divisions, offices, or taskforces of the 22 Commission. 23 ‘‘(6) FUNCTIONS OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 24 Taskforce shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 856 IS ‘‘(A) identify challenges that senior inves- 1 tors encounter, including problems associated 2 with financial exploitation and cognitive decline; 3 ‘‘(B) identify areas in which senior inves- 4 tors would benefit from changes in the regula- 5 tions of the Commission or the rules of self-reg- 6 ulatory organizations; 7 ‘‘(C) coordinate, as appropriate, with other 8 offices within the Commission, other taskforces 9 that may be established within the Commission, 10 self-regulatory organizations, and the Elder 11 Justice Coordinating Council; and 12 ‘‘(D) consult, as appropriate, with State 13 securities and law enforcement authorities, 14 State insurance regulators, and other Federal 15 agencies. 16 ‘‘(7) REPORT.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 18 graphs (B) and (C), the Taskforce, in coordina- 19 tion, as appropriate, with the Office of the In- 20 vestor Advocate and self-regulatory organiza- 21 tions, and in consultation, as appropriate, with 22 State securities and law enforcement authori- 23 ties, State insurance regulators, and Federal 24 agencies, shall submit to the Secretary of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 856 IS Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representa- 1 tives, and the appropriate committees of Con- 2 gress a biennial report containing— 3 ‘‘(i) appropriate statistical information 4 and full and substantive analysis; 5 ‘‘(ii) a summary of recent trends and 6 innovations that have impacted the invest- 7 ment landscape for senior investors; 8 ‘‘(iii) a summary of regulatory initia- 9 tives that have concentrated on senior in- 10 vestors and industry practices relating to 11 senior investors; 12 ‘‘(iv) key observations, best practices, 13 and areas needing improvement involving 14 senior investors identified during examina- 15 tions, enforcement actions, and investor 16 education outreach; 17 ‘‘(v) a summary of the most serious 18 issues encountered by senior investors, in- 19 cluding issues involving financial products 20 and services; 21 ‘‘(vi) an analysis with respect to— 22 ‘‘(I) existing policies and proce- 23 dures of brokers, dealers, investment 24 advisers, and other market partici- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 856 IS pants relating to senior investors and 1 topics involving senior investors; and 2 ‘‘(II) whether the policies and 3 procedures described in subclause (I) 4 need to be further developed or re- 5 fined; 6 ‘‘(vii) recommendations for any legis- 7 lative action, and any changes to the regu- 8 lations, guidance, and orders of the Com- 9 mission and self-regulatory organizations, 10 as may be appropriate to resolve problems 11 encountered by senior investors; and 12 ‘‘(viii) any other information, as de- 13 termined appropriate by the Director of 14 the Taskforce. 15 ‘‘(B) FIRST REPORT.—The first report re- 16 quired under this paragraph may not be sub- 17 mitted until after the Comptroller General of 18 the United States has submitted, and the 19 Taskforce has considered, the report required 20 under section 3 of the National Senior Investor 21 Initiative Act of 2021. 22 ‘‘(C) ELECTRONIC COPIES.—Each report 23 submitted under this paragraph to the Sec- 24 retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 856 IS of Representatives shall include an electronic 1 version of the report, which any Member of 2 Congress may obtain, upon request to the appli- 3 cable official. 4 ‘‘(8) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—The Commis- 5 sion shall carry out this subsection using amounts 6 otherwise made available to the Commission and no 7 additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 8 to carry out this subsection. 9 ‘‘(9) SUNSET.—The Taskforce shall terminate 10 on the date that is 10 years after the date of enact- 11 ment of this subsection.’’. 12 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 14 (1) the term ‘‘senior citizen’’ means an indi- 15 vidual who is older than 65 years of age; and 16 (2) the term ‘‘Taskforce’’ means the Senior In- 17 vestor Taskforce established under subsection (k) of 18 section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 19 (15 U.S.C. 78d), as added by section 2 of this Act. 20 (b) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after the date 21 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 22 United States shall submit to Congress and the Taskforce 23 the results of a study of financial exploitation of senior 24 citizens. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 856 IS (c) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub- 1 section (b) shall include information with respect to— 2 (1) the economic costs of the financial exploi- 3 tation of senior citizens, including— 4 (A) costs associated with losses by victims 5 that were incurred as a result of the financial 6 exploitation of senior citizens; 7 (B) costs incurred by State and Federal 8 agencies, law enforcement and investigatory 9 agencies, public benefit programs, public health 10 programs, and other public programs as a re- 11 sult of the financial exploitation of senior citi- 12 zens; 13 (C) costs incurred by the private sector as 14 a result of the financial exploitation of senior 15 citizens; and 16 (D) any other relevant costs that— 17 (i) result from the financial exploi- 18 tation of senior citizens; and 19 (ii) the Comptroller General of the 20 United States determines are necessary 21 and appropriate to include in order to pro- 22 vide Congress and the public with a full 23 and accurate understanding of the eco- 24 nomic costs resulting from the financial ex- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 856 IS ploitation of senior citizens in the United 1 States; 2 (2) the frequency of the financial exploitation of 3 senior citizens and correlated or contributing factors 4 with respect to that exploitation, including informa- 5 tion regarding— 6 (A) the percentage of senior citizens finan- 7 cially exploited each year; and 8 (B) factors that may contribute to an in- 9 creased risk of exploitation of senior citizens, 10 including race, social isolation, income, net 11 worth, religion, geographic location, occupation, 12 education, home-ownership, illness, and loss of 13 spouse; and 14 (3) policy responses to, and the reporting of, 15 the financial exploitation of senior citizens, includ- 16 ing— 17 (A) the degree to which financial exploi- 18 tation of senior citizens is not reported to the 19 appropriate authorities; 20 (B) the reasons that financial exploitation 21 of senior citizens may not be reported to the ap- 22 propriate authorities; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 856 IS (C) to the extent that suspected financial 1 exploitation of senior citizens is reported, infor- 2 mation regarding— 3 (i) which entities receive those re- 4 ports, including— 5 (I) Federal, State, and local 6 agencies, including adult protective 7 services agencies and law enforcement 8 agencies; and 9 (II) private sector entities, pro- 10 fessional licensing boards, and other 11 regulators; 12 (ii) the specific types of information 13 the entities described in clause (i) collect; 14 (iii) the actions that the entities de- 15 scribed in clause (i) take upon the receipt 16 of such a report; and 17 (iv) any limits on the ability of the en- 18 tities described in clause (i) to prevent that 19 exploitation, such as jurisdictional limits, a 20 lack of expertise, resource challenges, or 21 limiting criteria with respect to the types 22 of victims the agencies are permitted to 23 serve; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 856 IS (D) an analysis of gaps that may exist in 1 empowering Federal, State, and local agencies 2 to— 3 (i) prevent the financial exploitation 4 of senior citizens; or 5 (ii) respond effectively to the sus- 6 pected financial exploitation of senior citi- 7 zens; and 8 (E) an analysis of the legal hurdles that 9 prevent Federal, State, and local agencies from 10 effectively partnering with each other and pri- 11 vate professionals to effectively respond to the 12 financial exploitation of senior citizens. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS