Senior Security Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1719 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 JUNE 5, 2019 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 2019’’ or the ‘‘Senior Security Act 5 of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1719 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 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1719 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.—The Chairman shall ensure 9 that— 10 ‘‘(A) the Taskforce is staffed sufficiently to 11 carry out fully the requirements of this sub- 12 section; and 13 ‘‘(B) the staff described in subparagraph 14 (A) includes individuals from the Division of 15 Enforcement, the Office of Compliance Inspec- 16 tions and Examinations, and the Office of In- 17 vestor Education and Advocacy. 18 ‘‘(5) MINIMIZING DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.— 19 In organizing and staffing the Taskforce, the Chair- 20 man shall take such actions as may be necessary to 21 minimize the duplication of efforts within the divi- 22 sions and offices described in paragraph (4)(B) and 23 any other divisions, offices, or taskforces of the 24 Commission. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(6) FUNCTIONS OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 1 Taskforce shall— 2 ‘‘(A) identify challenges that senior inves- 3 tors encounter, including problems associated 4 with financial exploitation and cognitive decline; 5 ‘‘(B) identify areas in which senior inves- 6 tors would benefit from changes in the regula- 7 tions of the Commission or the rules of self-reg- 8 ulatory organizations; 9 ‘‘(C) coordinate, as appropriate, with other 10 offices within the Commission, other taskforces 11 that may be established within the Commission, 12 self-regulatory organizations, and the Elder 13 Justice Coordinating Council; and 14 ‘‘(D) consult, as appropriate, with State 15 securities and law enforcement authorities, 16 State insurance regulators, and other Federal 17 agencies. 18 ‘‘(7) REPORT.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 20 graph (B), the Taskforce, in coordination, as 21 appropriate, with the Office of the Investor Ad- 22 vocate and self-regulatory organizations, and in 23 consultation, as appropriate, with State securi- 24 ties and law enforcement authorities, State in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1719 IS surance regulators, and Federal agencies, shall 1 submit to 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 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1719 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 2019. 22 ‘‘(8) SUNSET.—The Taskforce— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1719 IS ‘‘(A) shall terminate on the date that is 10 1 years after the date of enactment of this sub- 2 section; and 3 ‘‘(B) may be reestablished by the Chair- 4 man.’’. 5 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 7 (1) the term ‘‘senior citizen’’ means an indi- 8 vidual who is older than 65 years of age; and 9 (2) the term ‘‘Taskforce’’ means the Senior In- 10 vestor Taskforce established under subsection (k) of 11 section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 12 (15 U.S.C. 78d), as added by section 2 of this Act. 13 (b) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after the date 14 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 15 United States shall submit to Congress and the Taskforce 16 the results of a study of financial exploitation of senior 17 citizens. 18 (c) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub- 19 section (b) shall include information with respect to— 20 (1) the economic costs of the financial exploi- 21 tation of senior citizens, including— 22 (A) costs associated with losses by victims 23 that were incurred as a result of the financial 24 exploitation of senior citizens; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1719 IS (B) costs incurred by State and Federal 1 agencies, law enforcement and investigatory 2 agencies, public benefit programs, public health 3 programs, and other public programs as a re- 4 sult of the financial exploitation of senior citi- 5 zens; 6 (C) costs incurred by the private sector as 7 a result of the financial exploitation of senior 8 citizens; and 9 (D) any other relevant costs that— 10 (i) result from the financial exploi- 11 tation of senior citizens; and 12 (ii) the Comptroller General of the 13 United States determines are necessary 14 and appropriate to include in order to pro- 15 vide Congress and the public with a full 16 and accurate understanding of the eco- 17 nomic costs resulting from the financial ex- 18 ploitation of senior citizens in the United 19 States; 20 (2) the frequency of the financial exploitation of 21 senior citizens and correlated or contributing factors 22 with respect to that exploitation, including informa- 23 tion regarding— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1719 IS (A) the percentage of senior citizens finan- 1 cially exploited each year; and 2 (B) factors that may contribute to an in- 3 creased risk of exploitation of senior citizens, 4 including race, social isolation, income, net 5 worth, religion, geographic location, occupation, 6 education, home-ownership, illness, and loss of 7 spouse; and 8 (3) policy responses to, and the reporting of, 9 the financial exploitation of senior citizens, includ- 10 ing— 11 (A) the degree to which financial exploi- 12 tation of senior citizens is not reported to the 13 appropriate authorities; 14 (B) the reasons that financial exploitation 15 of senior citizens may not be reported to the ap- 16 propriate authorities; 17 (C) to the extent that suspected financial 18 exploitation of senior citizens is reported, infor- 19 mation regarding— 20 (i) which entities receive those re- 21 ports, including— 22 (I) Federal, State, and local 23 agencies, including adult protective 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1719 IS services agencies and law enforcement 1 agencies; and 2 (II) private sector entities, pro- 3 fessional licensing boards, and other 4 regulators; 5 (ii) the specific types of information 6 the entities described in clause (i) collect; 7 (iii) the actions that the entities de- 8 scribed in clause (i) take upon the receipt 9 of such a report; and 10 (iv) any limits on the ability of the en- 11 tities described in clause (i) to prevent that 12 exploitation, such as jurisdictional limits, a 13 lack of expertise, resource challenges, or 14 limiting criteria with respect to the types 15 of victims the agencies are permitted to 16 serve; 17 (D) an analysis of gaps that may exist in 18 empowering Federal, State, and local agencies 19 to— 20 (i) prevent the financial exploitation 21 of senior citizens; or 22 (ii) respond effectively to the sus- 23 pected financial exploitation of senior citi- 24 zens; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1719 IS (E) an analysis of the legal hurdles that 1 prevent Federal, State, and local agencies from 2 effectively partnering with each other and pri- 3 vate professionals to effectively respond to the 4 financial exploitation of senior citizens. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:04 Jun 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1719.IS S1719 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS