II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3499 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require fiduciaries of individuals 

receiving benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to authorize the Secretary to obtain financial records with respect 

to such individuals for purposes of administering such laws, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 16, 2010 

Mr. AKAKA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to require fiduciaries 

of individuals receiving benefits under laws administered 

by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to authorize the 

Secretary to obtain financial records with respect to such 

individuals for purposes of administering such laws, 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 ‘‘Fiduciary Benefits 

5 Oversight Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO 

2 FINANCIAL RECORDS OF INDIVIDUALS REP3 RESENTED BY FIDUCIARIES AND RECEIVING 

4 BENEFITS UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED BY 

5 SECRETARY. 

6 Section 5502 of title 38, United States Code, is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following new sub8 section: 

9 ‘‘(f)(1) The Secretary may require any person ap10 pointed or recognized as a fiduciary for a Department ben11 eficiary under this section to provide authorization for the 

12 Secretary to obtain (subject to the cost reimbursement re13 quirements of section 1115(a) of the Right to Financial 

14 Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3415)) from any financial 

15 institution any financial record held by the institution with 

16 respect to the fiduciary or the beneficiary whenever the 

17 Secretary determines that the financial record is nec18 essary— 

19 ‘‘(A) for the administration of a program ad20 ministered by the Secretary; or 

21 ‘‘(B) in order to safeguard the beneficiary’s 

22 benefits against neglect, misappropriation, misuse, 

23 embezzlement, or fraud. 

24 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 1104(a)(1) of such Act 

25 (12 U.S.C. 3404(a)(1)), an authorization provided by a 


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1 fiduciary under paragraph (1) with respect to a bene2 ficiary shall remain effective until the earliest of— 

3 ‘‘(A) the approval by a court or the Secretary 

4 of a final accounting of payment of benefits under 

5 any law administered by the Secretary to a fiduciary 

6 on behalf of such beneficiary; 

7 ‘‘(B) in the absence of any evidence of neglect, 

8 misappropriation, misuse, embezzlement, or fraud, 

9 the express revocation by the fiduciary of the au10 thorization in a written notification to the Secretary; 

11 or 

12 ‘‘(C) the date that is three years after the date 

13 of the authorization. 

14 ‘‘(3)(A) An authorization obtained by the Secretary 

15 pursuant to this subsection shall be considered to meet 

16 the requirements of the Right to Financial Privacy Act 

17 of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) for purposes of section 

18 1103(a) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 3403(a)), and need not 

19 be furnished to the financial institution, notwithstanding 

20 section 1104(a) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 3404(a)), if the 

21 Secretary provides a copy of the authorization to the fi22 nancial institution. 

23 ‘‘(B) The certification requirements of section 

24 1103(b) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 3403(b)) shall not apply 


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1 to requests by the Secretary pursuant to an authorization 

2 provided under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(C) A request for a financial record by the Secretary 

4 pursuant to an authorization provided by a fiduciary 

5 under this subsection is deemed to meet the requirements 

6 of section 1104(a)(3) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 3404(a)(3)) 

7 and the matter in section 1102 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 

8 3402) that precedes paragraph (1) of such section if such 

9 request identifies the fiduciary and the beneficiary con10 cerned. 

11 ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall inform any person who pro12 vides authorization under this subsection of the duration 

13 and scope of the authorization. 

14 ‘‘(E) If a fiduciary of a Department beneficiary re15 fuses to provide, or revokes, any authorization to permit 

16 the Secretary to obtain from any financial institution any 

17 financial record concerning benefits paid by the Secretary 

18 for such beneficiary, the Secretary may, on that basis, re19 voke the appointment or the recognition of the fiduciary 

20 for such beneficiary and for any other Department bene21 ficiary for whom such fiduciary has been appointed or rec22 ognized. If the appointment or recognition of a fiduciary 

23 is revoked, benefits may be paid as provided in subsection 

24 (d). 


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1 ‘‘(4) For purposes of section 1113(d) of such Act (12 

2 U.S.C. 3413(d)), a disclosure pursuant to this subsection 

3 shall be considered a disclosure pursuant to a Federal 

4 statute. 

5 ‘‘(5) In this subsection: 

6 ‘‘(A) The term ‘fiduciary’ includes any person 

7 appointed or recognized to receive payment of bene8 fits under any law administered by the Secretary on 

9 behalf of a Department beneficiary. 

10 ‘‘(B) The term ‘financial institution’ has the 

11 meaning given such term in section 1101 of such 

12 Act (12 U.S.C. 3401), except that such term shall 

13 also include any benefit association, insurance com14 pany, safe deposit company, money market mutual 

15 fund, or similar entity authorized to do business in 

16 any State. 

17 ‘‘(C) The term ‘financial record’ has the mean18 ing given such term in such section.’’. 

Æ 


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