I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1876 

To create an interdivisional taskforce at the Securities and Exchange 

Commission for senior investors. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2019 

Mr. GOTTHEIMER (for himself and Mr. HOLLINGSWORTH) 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 2019’’ or the ‘‘Senior Security Act 

6 of 2019’’. 

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) MINIMIZING DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.— 

4 In organizing and staffing the Taskforce, the Chair5 man shall take such actions as may be necessary to 

6 minimize the duplication of efforts within the divi7 sions and offices described under paragraph (3)(B) 

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

9 Commission. 

10 ‘‘(5) FUNCTIONS OF THE TASKFORCE.—The 

11 Taskforce shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) identify challenges that senior inves13 tors encounter, including problems associated 

14 with financial exploitation and cognitive decline; 

15 ‘‘(B) identify areas in which senior inves16 tors would benefit from changes in the regula17 tions of the Commission or the rules of self-reg18 ulatory organizations; 

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

20 offices within the Commission, other taskforces 

21 that may be established within the Commission, 

22 self-regulatory organizations, and the Elder 

23 Justice Coordinating Council; and 

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

25 securities and law enforcement authorities, 


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1 State insurance regulators, and other Federal 

2 agencies. 

3 ‘‘(6) REPORT.—The Taskforce, in coordination, 

4 as appropriate, with the Office of the Investor Advo5 cate and self-regulatory organizations, and in con6 sultation, as appropriate, with State securities and 

7 law enforcement authorities, State insurance regu8 lators, and Federal agencies, shall issue a report 

9 every 2 years to the Committee on Banking, Hous10 ing, and Urban Affairs and the Special Committee 

11 on Aging of the Senate and the Committee on Fi12 nancial Services of the House of Representatives, the 

13 first of which shall not be issued until after the re14 port described in section 3 of the National Senior 

15 Investor Initiative Act of 2019 has been issued and 

16 considered by the Taskforce, containing— 

17 ‘‘(A) appropriate statistical information 

18 and full and substantive analysis; 

19 ‘‘(B) a summary of recent trends and inno20 vations that have impacted the investment land21 scape for senior investors; 

22 ‘‘(C) a summary of regulatory initiatives 

23 that have concentrated on senior investors and 

24 industry practices related to senior investors; 


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

2 areas needing improvement, involving senior in3 vestors identified during examinations, enforce4 ment actions, and investor education outreach; 

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

6 encountered by senior investors, including 

7 issues involving financial products and services; 

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

9 policies and procedures of brokers, dealers, in10 vestment advisers, and other market partici11 pants related to senior investors and senior in12 vestor-related topics and whether these policies 

13 and procedures need to be further developed or 

14 refined; 

15 ‘‘(G) recommendations for such changes to 

16 the regulations, guidance, and orders of the 

17 Commission and self-regulatory organizations 

18 and such legislative actions as may be appro19 priate to resolve problems encountered by senior 

20 investors; and 

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

22 appropriate by the Director of the Taskforce. 

23 ‘‘(7) SUNSET.—The Taskforce shall terminate 

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


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1 date of the enactment of this subsection, but may be 

2 reestablished by the Chairman. 

3 ‘‘(8) SENIOR INVESTOR DEFINED.—For pur4 poses of this subsection, the term ‘senior investor’ 

5 means an investor over the age of 65.’’. 

6 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 

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

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

9 of the United States shall submit to Congress and the 

10 Senior Investor Taskforce the results of a study of finan11 cial exploitation of senior citizens. 

12 (b) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub13 section (a) shall include information with respect to— 

14 (1) economic costs of the financial exploitation 

15 of senior citizens— 

16 (A) associated with losses by victims that 

17 were incurred as a result of the financial exploi18 tation of senior citizens; 

19 (B) incurred by State and Federal agen20 cies, law enforcement and investigatory agen21 cies, public benefit programs, public health pro22 grams, and other public programs as a result of 

23 the financial exploitation of senior citizens; 


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1 (C) incurred by the private sector as a re2 sult of the financial exploitation of senior citi3 zens; and 

4 (D) any other relevant costs that— 

5 (i) result from the financial exploi6 tation of senior citizens; and 

7 (ii) the Comptroller General deter8 mines are necessary and appropriate to in9 clude in order to provide Congress and the 

10 public with a full and accurate under11 standing of the economic costs resulting 

12 from the financial exploitation of senior 

13 citizens in the United States; 

14 (2) frequency of senior financial exploitation 

15 and correlated or contributing factors— 

16 (A) information about percentage of senior 

17 citizens financially exploited each year; and 

18 (B) information about factors contributing 

19 to increased risk of exploitation, including such 

20 factors as race, social isolation, income, net 

21 worth, religion, region, occupation, education, 

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

23 (3) policy responses and reporting of senior fi24 nancial exploitation— 


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1 (A) the degree to which financial exploi2 tation of senior citizens unreported to authori3 ties; 

4 (B) the reasons that financial exploitation 

5 may be unreported to authorities; 

6 (C) to the extent that suspected elder fi7 nancial exploitation is currently being re8 ported— 

9 (i) information regarding which Fed10 eral, State, and local agencies are receiving 

11 reports, including adult protective services, 

12 law enforcement, industry, regulators, and 

13 professional licensing boards; 

14 (ii) information regarding what infor15 mation is being collected by such agencies; 

16 and 

17 (iii) information regarding the actions 

18 that are taken by such agencies upon re19 ceipt of the report and any limits on the 

20 agencies’ ability to prevent exploitation, 

21 such as jurisdictional limits, a lack of ex22 pertise, resource challenges, or limiting cri23 teria with regard to the types of victims 

24 they are permitted to serve; 


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

2 empowering Federal, State, and local agencies 

3 to prevent senior exploitation or respond effec4 tively to suspected senior financial exploitation; 

5 and 

6 (E) an analysis of the legal hurdles that 

7 prevent Federal, State, and local agencies from 

8 effectively partnering with each other and pri9 vate professionals to effectively respond to sen10 ior financial exploitation. 

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

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

13 the age of 65. 

Æ 


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