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 investors, 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 Exchange Commission for senior investors, 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, 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE. 

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

3 U.S.C. 78d) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(k) SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

7 ‘‘(A) the term ‘appropriate committees of 

8 Congress’ means— 

9 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Banking, 

10 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Special Committee on Aging 

12 of the Senate; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Financial 

14 Services of the House of Representatives; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) the term ‘senior investor’ means an 

17 investor who is older than 65 years of age. 

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

19 within the Commission the Senior Investor 

20 Taskforce (referred to in this subsection as the 

21 ‘Taskforce’). 

22 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 

23 head of the Taskforce shall be the Director, who 

24 shall— 

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


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

2 consultation with the Commission, from among 

3 individuals— 

4 ‘‘(i) currently employed by the Com5 mission or from outside of the Commis6 sion; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) having experience in advocating 

8 for the interests of senior investors. 

9 ‘‘(4) STAFFING.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman shall 

11 ensure that— 

12 ‘‘(i) the Taskforce is staffed suffi13 ciently to carry out fully the requirements 

14 of this subsection; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the staff described in clause (i) 

16 includes individuals from the Division of 

17 Enforcement, the Office of Compliance In18 spections and Examinations, and the Of19 fice of Investor Education and Advocacy. 

20 ‘‘(B) MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A member of the 

22 public may serve as a member of the 

23 Taskforce. 

24 ‘‘(ii) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The Chair25 man shall provide to any member of the 


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1 public serving as a member of the 

2 Taskforce travel expenses, including per 

3 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au4 thorized for an employee of an agency 

5 under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

6 United States Code, while away from the 

7 home or regular place of business of the 

8 member in the performance of the duties 

9 of the Taskforce. 

10 ‘‘(C) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member 

11 of the Taskforce who is an employee of any 

12 agency, office, or other establishment in the ex13 ecutive, legislative, or judicial branch of the 

14 Federal Government shall receive no additional 

15 compensation for performing the duties of the 

16 member with respect to the Taskforce. 

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

18 In organizing and staffing the Taskforce, the Chair19 man shall take such actions as may be necessary to 

20 minimize the duplication of efforts within the divi21 sions and offices described in paragraph (4)(A)(ii) 

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

23 Commission. 

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

25 Taskforce shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) identify challenges that senior inves2 tors encounter, including problems associated 

3 with financial exploitation and cognitive decline; 

4 ‘‘(B) identify areas in which senior inves5 tors would benefit from changes in the regula6 tions of the Commission or the rules of self-reg7 ulatory organizations; 

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

9 offices within the Commission, other taskforces 

10 that may be established within the Commission, 

11 self-regulatory organizations, and the Elder 

12 Justice Coordinating Council; and 

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

14 securities and law enforcement authorities, 

15 State insurance regulators, and other Federal 

16 agencies. 

17 ‘‘(7) REPORT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara19 graphs (B) and (C), the Taskforce, in coordina20 tion, as appropriate, with the Office of the In21 vestor Advocate and self-regulatory organiza22 tions, and in consultation, as appropriate, with 

23 State securities and law enforcement authori24 ties, State insurance regulators, and Federal 

25 agencies, shall submit to the Secretary of the 


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1 Senate, the Clerk of the House of Representa2 tives, and the appropriate committees of Con3 gress a biennial report containing— 

4 ‘‘(i) appropriate statistical information 

5 and full and substantive analysis; 

6 ‘‘(ii) a summary of recent trends and 

7 innovations that have impacted the invest8 ment landscape for senior investors; 

9 ‘‘(iii) a summary of regulatory initia10 tives that have concentrated on senior in11 vestors and industry practices relating to 

12 senior investors; 

13 ‘‘(iv) key observations, best practices, 

14 and areas needing improvement involving 

15 senior investors identified during examina16 tions, enforcement actions, and investor 

17 education outreach; 

18 ‘‘(v) a summary of the most serious 

19 issues encountered by senior investors, in20 cluding issues involving financial products 

21 and services; 

22 ‘‘(vi) an analysis with respect to— 

23 ‘‘(I) existing policies and proce24 dures of brokers, dealers, investment 

25 advisers, and other market particiVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856

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1 pants relating to senior investors and 

2 topics involving senior investors; and 

3 ‘‘(II) whether the policies and 

4 procedures described in subclause (I) 

5 need to be further developed or re6 fined; 

7 ‘‘(vii) recommendations for any legis8 lative action, and any changes to the regu9 lations, guidance, and orders of the Com10 mission and self-regulatory organizations, 

11 as may be appropriate to resolve problems 

12 encountered by senior investors; and 

13 ‘‘(viii) any other information, as de14 termined appropriate by the Director of 

15 the Taskforce. 

16 ‘‘(B) FIRST REPORT.—The first report re17 quired under this paragraph may not be sub18 mitted until after the Comptroller General of 

19 the United States has submitted, and the 

20 Taskforce has considered, the report required 

21 under section 3 of the National Senior Investor 

22 Initiative Act of 2021. 

23 ‘‘(C) ELECTRONIC COPIES.—Each report 

24 submitted under this paragraph to the Sec25 retary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House 


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1 of Representatives shall include an electronic 

2 version of the report, which any Member of 

3 Congress may obtain, upon request to the appli4 cable official. 

5 ‘‘(8) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—The Commis6 sion shall carry out this subsection using amounts 

7 otherwise made available to the Commission and no 

8 additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 

9 to carry out this subsection. 

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

11 on the date that is 10 years after the date of enact12 ment of this subsection.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

15 (1) the term ‘‘senior citizen’’ means an indi16 vidual who is older than 65 years of age; and 

17 (2) the term ‘‘Taskforce’’ means the Senior In18 vestor Taskforce established under subsection (k) of 

19 section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

20 (15 U.S.C. 78d), as added by section 2 of this Act. 

21 (b) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 

23 United States shall submit to Congress and the Taskforce 

24 the results of a study of financial exploitation of senior 

25 citizens. 


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1 (c) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub2 section (b) shall include information with respect to— 

3 (1) the economic costs of the financial exploi4 tation of senior citizens, including— 

5 (A) costs associated with losses by victims 

6 that were incurred as a result of the financial 

7 exploitation of senior citizens; 

8 (B) costs incurred by State and Federal 

9 agencies, law enforcement and investigatory 

10 agencies, public benefit programs, public health 

11 programs, and other public programs as a re12 sult of the financial exploitation of senior citi13 zens; 

14 (C) costs incurred by the private sector as 

15 a result of the financial exploitation of senior 

16 citizens; and 

17 (D) any other relevant costs that— 

18 (i) result from the financial exploi19 tation of senior citizens; and 

20 (ii) the Comptroller General of the 

21 United States determines are necessary 

22 and appropriate to include in order to pro23 vide Congress and the public with a full 

24 and accurate understanding of the eco25 nomic costs resulting from the financial exVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S856.IS S856

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1 ploitation of senior citizens in the United 

2 States; 

3 (2) the frequency of the financial exploitation of 

4 senior citizens and correlated or contributing factors 

5 with respect to that exploitation, including informa6 tion regarding— 

7 (A) the percentage of senior citizens finan8 cially exploited each year; and 

9 (B) factors that may contribute to an in10 creased risk of exploitation of senior citizens, 

11 including race, social isolation, income, net 

12 worth, religion, geographic location, occupation, 

13 education, home-ownership, illness, and loss of 

14 spouse; and 

15 (3) policy responses to, and the reporting of, 

16 the financial exploitation of senior citizens, includ17 ing— 

18 (A) the degree to which financial exploi19 tation of senior citizens is not reported to the 

20 appropriate authorities; 

21 (B) the reasons that financial exploitation 

22 of senior citizens may not be reported to the ap23 propriate authorities; 


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1 (C) to the extent that suspected financial 

2 exploitation of senior citizens is reported, infor3 mation regarding— 

4 (i) which entities receive those re5 ports, including— 

6 (I) Federal, State, and local 

7 agencies, including adult protective 

8 services agencies and law enforcement 

9 agencies; and 

10 (II) private sector entities, pro11 fessional licensing boards, and other 

12 regulators; 

13 (ii) the specific types of information 

14 the entities described in clause (i) collect; 

15 (iii) the actions that the entities de16 scribed in clause (i) take upon the receipt 

17 of such a report; and 

18 (iv) any limits on the ability of the en19 tities described in clause (i) to prevent that 

20 exploitation, such as jurisdictional limits, a 

21 lack of expertise, resource challenges, or 

22 limiting criteria with respect to the types 

23 of victims the agencies are permitted to 

24 serve; 


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

2 empowering Federal, State, and local agencies 

3 to— 

4 (i) prevent the financial exploitation 

5 of senior citizens; or 

6 (ii) respond effectively to the sus7 pected financial exploitation of senior citi8 zens; and 

9 (E) an analysis of the legal hurdles that 

10 prevent Federal, State, and local agencies from 

11 effectively partnering with each other and pri12 vate professionals to effectively respond to the 

13 financial exploitation of senior citizens. 

Æ 


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