II 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4538 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 6, 2016 

Received 

AN ACT 

To provide immunity from suit for certain individuals who 

disclose potential examples of financial exploitation of 

senior citizens, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senior Safe Act of 

3 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. IMMUNITY. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 

6 (1) the term ‘‘Bank Secrecy Act Officer’’ means 

7 an individual responsible for ensuring compliance 

8 with the requirements mandated by subchapter II of 

9 chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code; 

10 (2) the term ‘‘broker-dealer’’ means a broker or 

11 dealer, as those terms are defined, respectively, in 

12 section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

13 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); 

14 (3) the term ‘‘covered agency’’ means— 

15 (A) a State financial regulatory agency, in16 cluding a State securities or law enforcement 

17 authority and a State insurance regulator; 

18 (B) each of the Federal financial institu19 tions regulatory agencies; 

20 (C) the Securities and Exchange Commis21 sion; 

22 (D) a law enforcement agency; 

23 (E) and State or local agency responsible 

24 for administering adult protective service laws; 

25 and 

26 (F) a State attorney general. 


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1 (4) the term ‘‘covered financial institution’’ 

2 means— 

3 (A) a credit union; 

4 (B) a depository institution; 

5 (C) an investment advisor; 

6 (D) a broker-dealer; 

7 (E) an insurance company; and 

8 (F) a State attorney general. 

9 (5) the term ‘‘credit union’’ means a Federal 

10 credit union, State credit union, or State-chartered 

11 credit union, as those terms are defined in section 

12 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 

13 1752); 

14 (6) the term ‘‘depository institution’’ has the 

15 meaning given the term in section 3(c) of the Fed16 eral Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(c)); 

17 (7) the term ‘‘exploitation’’ means the fraudu18 lent or otherwise illegal, unauthorized, or improper 

19 act or process of an individual, including a caregiver 

20 or fiduciary, that— 

21 (A) uses the resources of a senior citizen 

22 for monetary personal benefit, profit, or gain; 

23 or 


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1 (B) results in depriving a senior citizen of 

2 rightful access to or use of benefits, resources, 

3 belongings or assets; 

4 (8) the term ‘‘Federal financial institutions reg5 ulatory agencies’’ has the meaning given the term in 

6 section 1003 of the Federal Financial Institutions 

7 Examination Council Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3302); 

8 (9) the term ‘‘investment adviser’’ has the 

9 meaning given the term in section 202 of the Invest10 ment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–2); 

11 (10) the term ‘‘insurance company’’ has the 

12 meaning given the term in section 2(a) of the Invest13 ment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–2(a)); 

14 (11) the term ‘‘registered representative’’ 

15 means an individual who represents a broker-dealer 

16 in effecting or attempting to affect a purchase or 

17 sale of securities; 

18 (12) the term ‘‘senior citizen’’ means an indi19 vidual who is not less than 65 years of age; 

20 (13) the term ‘‘State insurance regulator’’ has 

21 the meaning given such term in section 315 of the 

22 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6735); and 

23 (14) the term ‘‘State securities or law enforce24 ment authority’’ has the meaning given the term in 


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1 section 24(f)(4) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

2 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78x(f)(4)). 

3 (b) IMMUNITY FROM SUIT.— 

4 (1) IMMUNITY FOR INDIVIDUALS.—An indi5 vidual who has received the training described in 

6 section 3 shall not be liable, including in any civil or 

7 administrative proceeding, for disclosing the possible 

8 exploitation of a senior citizen to a covered agency 

9 if the individual, at the time of the disclosure— 

10 (A) served as a supervisor, compliance offi11 cer (including a Bank Secrecy Act Officer), or 

12 registered representative for a covered financial 

13 institution; and 

14 (B) made the disclosure with reasonable 

15 care including reasonable efforts to avoid disclo16 sure other than to a covered agency. 

17 (2) IMMUNITY FOR COVERED FINANCIAL INSTI18 TUTIONS.—A covered financial institution shall not 

19 be liable, including in any civil or administrative pro20 ceeding, for a disclosure made by an individual de21 scribed in paragraph (1) if— 

22 (A) the individual was employed by, or, in 

23 the case of a registered representative, affiliated 

24 or associated with, the covered financial institu25 tion at the time of the disclosure; and 


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1 (B) before the time of the disclosure, the 

2 covered financial institution provided the train3 ing described in section 3 to each individual de4 scribed in section 3(a). 

5 SEC. 3. TRAINING REQUIRED. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—A covered financial institution 

7 may provide training described in subsection (b)(1) to 

8 each officer or employee of, or registered representative 

9 affiliated or associated with, the covered financial institu10 tion who— 

11 (1) is described in section 2(b)(1)(A); 

12 (2) may come into contact with a senior citizen 

13 as a regular part of the duties of the officer, em14 ployee, or registered representative; or 

15 (3) may review or approve the financial docu16 ments, records, or transactions of a senior citizen in 

17 connection with providing financial services to a sen18 ior citizen. 

19 (b) TRAINING.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The training described in 

21 this paragraph shall— 

22 (A) instruct any individual attending the 

23 training on how to identify and report the sus24 pected exploitation of a senior citizen; 


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1 (B) discuss the need to protect the privacy 

2 and respect the integrity of each individual cus3 tomer of a covered financial institution; and 

4 (C) be appropriate to the job responsibil5 ities of the individual attending the training. 

6 (2) TIMING.—The training required under sub7 section (a) shall be provided as soon as reasonably 

8 practicable but not later than 1 year after the date 

9 on which an officer, employee, or registered rep10 resentative begins employment with or becomes af11 filiated or associated with the covered financial insti12 tution. 

13 (3) BANK SECRECY ACT OFFICER.—An indi14 vidual who is designated as a compliance officer 

15 under an anti-money laundering program established 

16 pursuant to section 5318(h) of title 31, United 

17 States Code, shall be deemed to have received the 

18 training described under this subsection. 

19 SEC. 4. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW. 

20 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt or 

21 limit any provision of State law, except only to the extent 

22 that section 2 provides a greater level of protection against 

23 liability to an individual described in section 2(b)(1) or 


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1 to a covered financial institution described in section 

2 2(b)(2) than is provided under State law. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 5, 2016. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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