I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1565 

To create an interdivisional taskforce at the Securities and Exchange 

Commission for senior investors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself, Mr. HOLLINGSWORTH, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. CASTEN, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To create an interdivisional taskforce at the Securities and 

Exchange Commission for senior investors. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Senior Inves5 tor Initiative Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Senior Security Act 

6 of 2021’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE. 

8 Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

9 U.S.C. 78d) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(k) SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE.— 

2 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

3 within the Commission the Senior Investor 

4 Taskforce (in this subsection referred to as the 

5 ‘Taskforce’). 

6 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 

7 head of the Taskforce shall be the Director, who 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) report directly to the Chairman; and 

10 ‘‘(B) be appointed by the Chairman, in 

11 consultation with the Commission, from among 

12 individuals— 

13 ‘‘(i) currently employed by the Com14 mission or from outside of the Commis15 sion; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) having experience in advocating 

17 for the interests of senior investors. 

18 ‘‘(3) STAFFING.—The Chairman shall ensure 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(A) the Taskforce is staffed sufficiently to 

21 carry out fully the requirements of this sub22 section; and 

23 ‘‘(B) such staff shall include individuals 

24 from the Division of Enforcement, Office of 


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1 Compliance Inspections and Examinations, and 

2 Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. 

3 ‘‘(4) NO COMPENSATION FOR MEMBERS OF

4 TASKFORCE.—All members of the Taskforce ap5 pointed under paragraph (2) or (3) shall serve with6 out compensation in addition to that received for 

7 their services as officers or employees of the United 

8 States. 

9 ‘‘(5) MINIMIZING DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.— 

10 In organizing and staffing the Taskforce, the Chair11 man shall take such actions as may be necessary to 

12 minimize the duplication of efforts within the divi13 sions and offices described under paragraph (3)(B) 

14 and any other divisions, offices, or taskforces of the 

15 Commission. 

16 ‘‘(6) FUNCTIONS OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 

17 Taskforce shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) identify challenges that senior inves19 tors encounter, including problems associated 

20 with financial exploitation and cognitive decline; 

21 ‘‘(B) identify areas in which senior inves22 tors would benefit from changes in the regula23 tions of the Commission or the rules of self-reg24 ulatory organizations; 


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1 ‘‘(C) coordinate, as appropriate, with other 

2 offices within the Commission, other taskforces 

3 that may be established within the Commission, 

4 self-regulatory organizations, and the Elder 

5 Justice Coordinating Council; and 

6 ‘‘(D) consult, as appropriate, with State 

7 securities and law enforcement authorities, 

8 State insurance regulators, and other Federal 

9 agencies. 

10 ‘‘(7) REPORT.—The Taskforce, in coordination, 

11 as appropriate, with the Office of the Investor Advo12 cate and self-regulatory organizations, and in con13 sultation, as appropriate, with State securities and 

14 law enforcement authorities, State insurance regu15 lators, and Federal agencies, shall issue a report 

16 every 2 years to the Committee on Banking, Hous17 ing, and Urban Affairs and the Special Committee 

18 on Aging of the Senate and the Committee on Fi19 nancial Services of the House of Representatives, the 

20 first of which shall not be issued until after the re21 port described in section 3 of the National Senior 

22 Investor Initiative Act of 2021 has been issued and 

23 considered by the Taskforce, containing— 

24 ‘‘(A) appropriate statistical information 

25 and full and substantive analysis; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a summary of recent trends and inno2 vations that have impacted the investment land3 scape for senior investors; 

4 ‘‘(C) a summary of regulatory initiatives 

5 that have concentrated on senior investors and 

6 industry practices related to senior investors; 

7 ‘‘(D) key observations, best practices, and 

8 areas needing improvement, involving senior in9 vestors identified during examinations, enforce10 ment actions, and investor education outreach; 

11 ‘‘(E) a summary of the most serious issues 

12 encountered by senior investors, including 

13 issues involving financial products and services; 

14 ‘‘(F) an analysis with regard to existing 

15 policies and procedures of brokers, dealers, in16 vestment advisers, and other market partici17 pants related to senior investors and senior in18 vestor-related topics and whether these policies 

19 and procedures need to be further developed or 

20 refined; 

21 ‘‘(G) recommendations for such changes to 

22 the regulations, guidance, and orders of the 

23 Commission and self-regulatory organizations 

24 and such legislative actions as may be approVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Mar 06, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1565.IH H1565

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1 priate to resolve problems encountered by senior 

2 investors; and 

3 ‘‘(H) any other information, as determined 

4 appropriate by the Director of the Taskforce. 

5 ‘‘(8) REQUEST FOR REPORTS.—The Taskforce 

6 shall make any report issued under paragraph (7) 

7 available to a Member of Congress who requests 

8 such a report. 

9 ‘‘(9) SUNSET.—The Taskforce shall terminate 

10 after the end of the 10-year period beginning on the 

11 date of the enactment of this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(10) SENIOR INVESTOR DEFINED.—For pur13 poses of this subsection, the term ‘senior investor’ 

14 means an investor over the age of 65. 

15 ‘‘(11) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—The Commis16 sion shall use existing funds to carry out this sub17 section.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

21 of the United States shall submit to Congress and the 

22 Senior Investor Taskforce the results of a study of finan23 cial exploitation of senior citizens. 

24 (b) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub25 section (a) shall include information with respect to— 


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1 (1) economic costs of the financial exploitation 

2 of senior citizens— 

3 (A) associated with losses by victims that 

4 were incurred as a result of the financial exploi5 tation of senior citizens; 

6 (B) incurred by State and Federal agen7 cies, law enforcement and investigatory agen8 cies, public benefit programs, public health pro9 grams, and other public programs as a result of 

10 the financial exploitation of senior citizens; 

11 (C) incurred by the private sector as a re12 sult of the financial exploitation of senior citi13 zens; and 

14 (D) any other relevant costs that— 

15 (i) result from the financial exploi16 tation of senior citizens; and 

17 (ii) the Comptroller General deter18 mines are necessary and appropriate to in19 clude in order to provide Congress and the 

20 public with a full and accurate under21 standing of the economic costs resulting 

22 from the financial exploitation of senior 

23 citizens in the United States; 

24 (2) frequency of senior financial exploitation 

25 and correlated or contributing factors— 


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1 (A) information about percentage of senior 

2 citizens financially exploited each year; and 

3 (B) information about factors contributing 

4 to increased risk of exploitation, including such 

5 factors as race, social isolation, income, net 

6 worth, religion, region, occupation, education, 

7 home-ownership, illness, and loss of spouse; and 

8 (3) policy responses and reporting of senior fi9 nancial exploitation— 

10 (A) the degree to which financial exploi11 tation of senior citizens unreported to authori12 ties; 

13 (B) the reasons that financial exploitation 

14 may be unreported to authorities; 

15 (C) to the extent that suspected elder fi16 nancial exploitation is currently being re17 ported— 

18 (i) information regarding which Fed19 eral, State, and local agencies are receiving 

20 reports, including adult protective services, 

21 law enforcement, industry, regulators, and 

22 professional licensing boards; 

23 (ii) information regarding what infor24 mation is being collected by such agencies; 

25 and 


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1 (iii) information regarding the actions 

2 that are taken by such agencies upon re3 ceipt of the report and any limits on the 

4 agencies’ ability to prevent exploitation, 

5 such as jurisdictional limits, a lack of ex6 pertise, resource challenges, or limiting cri7 teria with regard to the types of victims 

8 they are permitted to serve; 

9 (D) an analysis of gaps that may exist in 

10 empowering Federal, State, and local agencies 

11 to prevent senior exploitation or respond effec12 tively to suspected senior financial exploitation; 

13 and 

14 (E) an analysis of the legal hurdles that 

15 prevent Federal, State, and local agencies from 

16 effectively partnering with each other and pri17 vate professionals to effectively respond to sen18 ior financial exploitation. 

19 (c) SENIOR CITIZEN DEFINED.—For purposes of this 

20 section, the term ‘‘senior citizen’’ means an individual over 

21 the age of 65. 

Æ 


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