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 GON-
ZALEZ of Texas, Mr. CASTEN, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the fol-
lowing 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Senior Inves-
tor Initiative Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Senior Security Act 
of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE. 
Section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 
U.S.C. 78d) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(k) SENIOR INVESTOR TASKFORCE.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 
within 
the 
Commission 
the 
Senior 
Investor 
Taskforce (in this subsection referred to as the 
‘Taskforce’). 
‘‘(2) DIRECTOR
OF
THE
TASKFORCE.—The 
head of the Taskforce shall be the Director, who 
shall— 
‘‘(A) report directly to the Chairman; and 
‘‘(B) be appointed by the Chairman, in 
consultation with the Commission, from among 
individuals— 
‘‘(i) currently employed by the Com-
mission or from outside of the Commis-
sion; and 
‘‘(ii) having experience in advocating 
for the interests of senior investors. 
‘‘(3) STAFFING.—The Chairman shall ensure 
that— 
‘‘(A) the Taskforce is staffed sufficiently to 
carry out fully the requirements of this sub-
section; and 
‘‘(B) such staff shall include individuals 
from the Division of Enforcement, Office of 
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Compliance Inspections and Examinations, and 
Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. 
‘‘(4) NO
COMPENSATION
FOR
MEMBERS
OF 
TASKFORCE.—All members of the Taskforce ap-
pointed under paragraph (2) or (3) shall serve with-
out compensation in addition to that received for 
their services as officers or employees of the United 
States. 
‘‘(5) MINIMIZING DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS.— 
In organizing and staffing the Taskforce, the Chair-
man shall take such actions as may be necessary to 
minimize the duplication of efforts within the divi-
sions and offices described under paragraph (3)(B) 
and any other divisions, offices, or taskforces of the 
Commission. 
‘‘(6) FUNCTIONS
OF
THE
TASKFORCE.—The 
Taskforce shall— 
‘‘(A) identify challenges that senior inves-
tors encounter, including problems associated 
with financial exploitation and cognitive decline; 
‘‘(B) identify areas in which senior inves-
tors would benefit from changes in the regula-
tions of the Commission or the rules of self-reg-
ulatory organizations; 
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‘‘(C) coordinate, as appropriate, with other 
offices within the Commission, other taskforces 
that may be established within the Commission, 
self-regulatory organizations, and the Elder 
Justice Coordinating Council; and 
‘‘(D) consult, as appropriate, with State 
securities and law enforcement authorities, 
State insurance regulators, and other Federal 
agencies. 
‘‘(7) REPORT.—The Taskforce, in coordination, 
as appropriate, with the Office of the Investor Advo-
cate and self-regulatory organizations, and in con-
sultation, as appropriate, with State securities and 
law enforcement authorities, State insurance regu-
lators, and Federal agencies, shall issue a report 
every 2 years to the Committee on Banking, Hous-
ing, and Urban Affairs and the Special Committee 
on Aging of the Senate and the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services of the House of Representatives, the 
first of which shall not be issued until after the re-
port described in section 3 of the National Senior 
Investor Initiative Act of 2021 has been issued and 
considered by the Taskforce, containing— 
‘‘(A) appropriate statistical information 
and full and substantive analysis; 
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‘‘(B) a summary of recent trends and inno-
vations that have impacted the investment land-
scape for senior investors; 
‘‘(C) a summary of regulatory initiatives 
that have concentrated on senior investors and 
industry practices related to senior investors; 
‘‘(D) key observations, best practices, and 
areas needing improvement, involving senior in-
vestors identified during examinations, enforce-
ment actions, and investor education outreach; 
‘‘(E) a summary of the most serious issues 
encountered by senior investors, including 
issues involving financial products and services; 
‘‘(F) an analysis with regard to existing 
policies and procedures of brokers, dealers, in-
vestment advisers, and other market partici-
pants related to senior investors and senior in-
vestor-related topics and whether these policies 
and procedures need to be further developed or 
refined; 
‘‘(G) recommendations for such changes to 
the regulations, guidance, and orders of the 
Commission and self-regulatory organizations 
and such legislative actions as may be appro-
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priate to resolve problems encountered by senior 
investors; and 
‘‘(H) any other information, as determined 
appropriate by the Director of the Taskforce. 
‘‘(8) REQUEST FOR REPORTS.—The Taskforce 
shall make any report issued under paragraph (7) 
available to a Member of Congress who requests 
such a report. 
‘‘(9) SUNSET.—The Taskforce shall terminate 
after the end of the 10-year period beginning on the 
date of the enactment of this subsection. 
‘‘(10) SENIOR INVESTOR DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this subsection, the term ‘senior investor’ 
means an investor over the age of 65. 
‘‘(11) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—The Commis-
sion shall use existing funds to carry out this sub-
section.’’. 
SEC. 3. GAO STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 
of the United States shall submit to Congress and the 
Senior Investor Taskforce the results of a study of finan-
cial exploitation of senior citizens. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The study required under sub-
section (a) shall include information with respect to— 
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(1) economic costs of the financial exploitation 
of senior citizens— 
(A) associated with losses by victims that 
were incurred as a result of the financial exploi-
tation of senior citizens; 
(B) incurred by State and Federal agen-
cies, law enforcement and investigatory agen-
cies, public benefit programs, public health pro-
grams, and other public programs as a result of 
the financial exploitation of senior citizens; 
(C) incurred by the private sector as a re-
sult of the financial exploitation of senior citi-
zens; and 
(D) any other relevant costs that— 
(i) result from the financial exploi-
tation of senior citizens; and 
(ii) the Comptroller General deter-
mines are necessary and appropriate to in-
clude in order to provide Congress and the 
public with a full and accurate under-
standing of the economic costs resulting 
from the financial exploitation of senior 
citizens in the United States; 
(2) frequency of senior financial exploitation 
and correlated or contributing factors— 
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(A) information about percentage of senior 
citizens financially exploited each year; and 
(B) information about factors contributing 
to increased risk of exploitation, including such 
factors as race, social isolation, income, net 
worth, religion, region, occupation, education, 
home-ownership, illness, and loss of spouse; and 
(3) policy responses and reporting of senior fi-
nancial exploitation— 
(A) the degree to which financial exploi-
tation of senior citizens unreported to authori-
ties; 
(B) the reasons that financial exploitation 
may be unreported to authorities; 
(C) to the extent that suspected elder fi-
nancial exploitation is currently being re-
ported— 
(i) information regarding which Fed-
eral, State, and local agencies are receiving 
reports, including adult protective services, 
law enforcement, industry, regulators, and 
professional licensing boards; 
(ii) information regarding what infor-
mation is being collected by such agencies; 
and 
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(iii) information regarding the actions 
that are taken by such agencies upon re-
ceipt of the report and any limits on the 
agencies’ ability to prevent exploitation, 
such as jurisdictional limits, a lack of ex-
pertise, resource challenges, or limiting cri-
teria with regard to the types of victims 
they are permitted to serve; 
(D) an analysis of gaps that may exist in 
empowering Federal, State, and local agencies 
to prevent senior exploitation or respond effec-
tively to suspected senior financial exploitation; 
and 
(E) an analysis of the legal hurdles that 
prevent Federal, State, and local agencies from 
effectively partnering with each other and pri-
vate professionals to effectively respond to sen-
ior financial exploitation. 
(c) SENIOR CITIZEN DEFINED.—For purposes of this 
section, the term ‘‘senior citizen’’ means an individual over 
the age of 65. 
Æ 
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