Senior Security Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1876 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 1, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs AN ACT To create an interdivisional taskforce at the Securities and Exchange Commission for senior investors. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1876 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Senior Inves- 2 tor Initiative Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Senior Security Act 3 of 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE. 5 Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 6 U.S.C. 78d) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(k) SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE.— 9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 10 within the Commission the Senior Investor 11 Taskforce (in this subsection referred to as the 12 ‘Taskforce’). 13 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 14 head of the Taskforce shall be the Director, who 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(A) report directly to the Chairman; and 17 ‘‘(B) be appointed by the Chairman, in 18 consultation with the Commission, from among 19 individuals— 20 ‘‘(i) currently employed by the Com- 21 mission or from outside of the Commis- 22 sion; and 23 ‘‘(ii) having experience in advocating 24 for the interests of senior investors. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1876 RFS ‘‘(3) STAFFING.—The Chairman shall ensure 1 that— 2 ‘‘(A) the Taskforce is staffed sufficiently to 3 carry out fully the requirements of this sub- 4 section; and 5 ‘‘(B) such staff shall include individuals 6 from the Division of Enforcement, Office of 7 Compliance Inspections and Examinations, and 8 Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. 9 ‘‘(4) MINIMIZING DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.— 10 In organizing and staffing the Taskforce, the Chair- 11 man shall take such actions as may be necessary to 12 minimize the duplication of efforts within the divi- 13 sions and offices described under paragraph (3)(B) 14 and any other divisions, offices, or taskforces of the 15 Commission. 16 ‘‘(5) FUNCTIONS OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 17 Taskforce shall— 18 ‘‘(A) identify challenges that senior inves- 19 tors encounter, including problems associated 20 with financial exploitation and cognitive decline; 21 ‘‘(B) identify areas in which senior inves- 22 tors would benefit from changes in the regula- 23 tions of the Commission or the rules of self-reg- 24 ulatory organizations; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1876 RFS ‘‘(C) coordinate, as appropriate, with other 1 offices within the Commission, other taskforces 2 that may be established within the Commission, 3 self-regulatory organizations, and the Elder 4 Justice Coordinating Council; and 5 ‘‘(D) consult, as appropriate, with State 6 securities and law enforcement authorities, 7 State insurance regulators, and other Federal 8 agencies. 9 ‘‘(6) REPORT.—The Taskforce, in coordination, 10 as appropriate, with the Office of the Investor Advo- 11 cate and self-regulatory organizations, and in con- 12 sultation, as appropriate, with State securities and 13 law enforcement authorities, State insurance regu- 14 lators, and Federal agencies, shall issue a report 15 every 2 years to the Committee on Banking, Hous- 16 ing, and Urban Affairs and the Special Committee 17 on Aging of the Senate and the Committee on Fi- 18 nancial Services of the House of Representatives, the 19 first of which shall not be issued until after the re- 20 port described in section 3 of the National Senior 21 Investor Initiative Act of 2019 has been issued and 22 considered by the Taskforce, containing— 23 ‘‘(A) appropriate statistical information 24 and full and substantive analysis; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1876 RFS ‘‘(B) a summary of recent trends and inno- 1 vations that have impacted the investment land- 2 scape for senior investors; 3 ‘‘(C) a summary of regulatory initiatives 4 that have concentrated on senior investors and 5 industry practices related to senior investors; 6 ‘‘(D) key observations, best practices, and 7 areas needing improvement, involving senior in- 8 vestors identified during examinations, enforce- 9 ment actions, and investor education outreach; 10 ‘‘(E) a summary of the most serious issues 11 encountered by senior investors, including 12 issues involving financial products and services; 13 ‘‘(F) an analysis with regard to existing 14 policies and procedures of brokers, dealers, in- 15 vestment advisers, and other market partici- 16 pants related to senior investors and senior in- 17 vestor-related topics and whether these policies 18 and procedures need to be further developed or 19 refined; 20 ‘‘(G) recommendations for such changes to 21 the regulations, guidance, and orders of the 22 Commission and self-regulatory organizations 23 and such legislative actions as may be appro- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1876 RFS priate to resolve problems encountered by senior 1 investors; and 2 ‘‘(H) any other information, as determined 3 appropriate by the Director of the Taskforce. 4 ‘‘(7) SUNSET.—The Taskforce shall terminate 5 after the end of the 10-year period beginning on the 6 date of the enactment of this subsection, but may be 7 reestablished by the Chairman. 8 ‘‘(8) SENIOR INVESTOR DEFINED.—For pur- 9 poses of this subsection, the term ‘senior investor’ 10 means an investor over the age of 65.’’. 11 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 13 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 14 of the United States shall submit to Congress and the 15 Senior Investor Taskforce the results of a study of finan- 16 cial exploitation of senior citizens. 17 (b) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub- 18 section (a) shall include information with respect to— 19 (1) economic costs of the financial exploitation 20 of senior citizens— 21 (A) associated with losses by victims that 22 were incurred as a result of the financial exploi- 23 tation of senior citizens; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 1876 RFS (B) incurred by State and Federal agen- 1 cies, law enforcement and investigatory agen- 2 cies, public benefit programs, public health pro- 3 grams, and other public programs as a result of 4 the financial exploitation of senior citizens; 5 (C) incurred by the private sector as a re- 6 sult of the financial exploitation of senior citi- 7 zens; and 8 (D) any other relevant costs that— 9 (i) result from the financial exploi- 10 tation of senior citizens; and 11 (ii) the Comptroller General deter- 12 mines are necessary and appropriate to in- 13 clude in order to provide Congress and the 14 public with a full and accurate under- 15 standing of the economic costs resulting 16 from the financial exploitation of senior 17 citizens in the United States; 18 (2) frequency of senior financial exploitation 19 and correlated or contributing factors— 20 (A) information about percentage of senior 21 citizens financially exploited each year; and 22 (B) information about factors contributing 23 to increased risk of exploitation, including such 24 factors as race, social isolation, income, net 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 1876 RFS worth, religion, region, occupation, education, 1 home-ownership, illness, and loss of spouse; and 2 (3) policy responses and reporting of senior fi- 3 nancial exploitation— 4 (A) the degree to which financial exploi- 5 tation of senior citizens unreported to authori- 6 ties; 7 (B) the reasons that financial exploitation 8 may be unreported to authorities; 9 (C) to the extent that suspected elder fi- 10 nancial exploitation is currently being re- 11 ported— 12 (i) information regarding which Fed- 13 eral, State, and local agencies are receiving 14 reports, including adult protective services, 15 law enforcement, industry, regulators, and 16 professional licensing boards; 17 (ii) information regarding what infor- 18 mation is being collected by such agencies; 19 and 20 (iii) information regarding the actions 21 that are taken by such agencies upon re- 22 ceipt of the report and any limits on the 23 agencies’ ability to prevent exploitation, 24 such as jurisdictional limits, a lack of ex- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 1876 RFS pertise, resource challenges, or limiting cri- 1 teria with regard to the types of victims 2 they are permitted to serve; 3 (D) an analysis of gaps that may exist in 4 empowering Federal, State, and local agencies 5 to prevent senior exploitation or respond effec- 6 tively to suspected senior financial exploitation; 7 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 sen- 12 ior financial exploitation. 13 (c) SENIOR CITIZEN DEFINED.—For purposes of this 14 section, the term ‘‘senior citizen’’ means an individual over 15 the age of 65. 16 Passed the House of Representatives April 30, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1876.RFS H1876 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS