[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 159 (Wednesday, October 28, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7595-S7596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mrs. McCaskill):
  S. 2216. A bill to provide immunity from suit for certain individuals 
who disclose potential examples of financial exploitation of senior 
citizens, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
and Urban Affairs.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, as Chairman of the Senate Aging 
Committee, I am delighted to be joined today by my ranking member and 
good friend, Senator Claire McCaskill, in introducing the Senior$afe 
Act of 2015, a bill that would put in place a common sense plan to help 
protect American seniors from financial fraud.
  According to the GAO, financial fraud targeting older Americans is a 
growing epidemic that costs seniors an estimated $2.9 billion annually.
  Protecting seniors from financial exploitation and fraud is one of 
the top priorities of the Aging Committee. Over the course of the past 
two and a half years, our Committee has held 15 hearings, six since 
January, examining how fraudsters find and exploit their victims and 
what can be done to stop them. The frauds we have highlighted have 
ranged from the infamous ``Jamaican Lottery Scam,'' that reached its 
height in 2013, to the notorious IRS phone scam that burst onto the 
scene this spring, and, more recently, to the shady practices of the 
pension advance industry. Sadly, not all scammers are strangers to 
their victims, in too many cases, the senior is exploited by someone he 
or she knows well.
  Although the various scams we have examined differ in scope and 
structure, one factor is common to all--the fraudsters need to gain the 
trust and active cooperation of their victims. Without this, their 
schemes would fail. That is why it is so important that seniors 
recognize as quickly as possible the red flags that signal potential 
fraud.
  Unfortunately, many seniors do not see these red flags. Sometimes 
they are too trusting or are suffering from diminished capacity, but, 
just as often, they miss the flags because the swindlers who prey on 
them are extremely

[[Page S7596]]

crafty and know how to sound convincing. Whatever the reason, a warning 
sign that can slip by a victim might trigger a second look by financial 
service representatives trained to spot common scams, who know enough 
about a senior's habits to question a transaction that doesn't look 
right. In our work on the Aging Committee, we have heard of many 
instances where quick action by bank and credit union employees, 
broker-dealers, and investment advisors has stopped a fraud in 
progress, saving their customers untold thousands of dollars.
  Let me give you an example. Earlier this year, a senior citizen in 
Vassalboro, ME, was looking to wire funds from his account at Maine 
Savings Federal Credit Union to an out-of-state location, supposedly to 
bail out a relative who was in jail. Something about this transaction 
didn't sound right to the teller supervisor at the credit union. She 
questioned the customer, who told her he had gotten a call from an 
``official'' at the jail, who had instructed him not to speak to anyone 
about the transaction. Fortunately for this senior citizen, this 
supervisor was able to spot this as a scam, and her quick thinking 
saved him from falling victim to it.
  In another case, just two weeks ago, an alert bank employee in 
Nebraska noticed suspicious withdrawals from the checking account of a 
senior citizen who was a customer of the bank. Not knowing what to do, 
and without sharing confidential information, this bank teller called 
the Senate Aging Committee's fraud hotline for guidance. Our staff 
advised her to contact the local Area Agency on Aging. With the 
Senior$afe program in place, bank tellers all over the country will 
know how to respond when situations like this arise in the future.
  Regrettably, Federal laws with the important intention of protecting 
consumer privacy can make it difficult for financial institutions to 
report suspected fraud to the proper authorities.
  Our bill would clarify these laws to encourage banks, credit unions, 
investment advisors, and broker-dealers to report suspected financial 
fraud targeting senior citizens to regulators, law enforcement, or 
adult protective services agencies.
  A key feature of the bill is the liability protection it provides: 
financial institutions and their employees are protected from suit so 
long as employees are trained in how to spot and report suspected 
financial exploitation; their reports are made in good faith and on a 
reasonable basis, and they report to the proper authorities.
  Our bill is based on Maine's innovative Senior$afe program, a 
collaborative effort by Maine's regulators, financial institutions, and 
legal organizations to educate bank and credit union employees on how 
to identify and help stop financial exploitation of older Mainers. This 
program, pioneered by Maine Securities Administrator Judith Shaw, also 
serves as the template for model legislation developed for adoption at 
the state level by the North American Securities Administrators 
Association, or ``NASAA''. The Senior$afe Act and NASAA's model State 
legislation are complementary efforts, and I am pleased that NASAA has 
endorsed our bill.
  Combating financial abuse of seniors requires regulators, law 
enforcement, and social service agencies at all levels of government to 
work collaboratively with the private sector. Financial institutions 
occupy a critical nexus between fraudsters and their victims, and can 
play an important role. Their employees, if properly trained, can be a 
first line of defense protecting our seniors from these fraudsters. The 
Senior$afe Act encourages financial institutions to train their 
employees, and shields them from lawsuits when they make good faith, 
reasonable reports of potential fraud to the proper authorities.
  I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                         North American Securities


                             Administrators Association, Inc.,

                                 Washington, DC, October 27, 2015.
     Re The Senior$afe Act of 2015.

     Senator Susan Collins,
     Chairman, Senate Special Committee on Aging, Washington DC.
     Senator Claire McCaskill,
     Ranking Member, Senate Special Committee on Aging, Washington 
         DC.
       Dear Chairman Collins and Ranking Member McCaskill: On 
     behalf of the North American Securities Administrators 
     Association (``NASAA''), I'm writing to express strong 
     support for your work to better protect vulnerable adults 
     from financial exploitation through the introduction of the 
     Senior$afe Act of 2015. Your legislation will better protect 
     seniors by increasing the likelihood that financial 
     exploitation targeting the elderly will be identified by 
     financial services professionals, and by removing barriers 
     that might otherwise frustrate the reporting of such 
     exploitation to state securities regulators and other 
     appropriate governmental authorities.
       Senior financial exploitation is a difficult but critical 
     policy challenge. Many in our elderly population are 
     vulnerable due to social isolation and distance from family, 
     caregiver, and other support networks. Indeed, evidence 
     suggests that as many as one out of every five citizens over 
     the age of 65 has been victimized by a financial fraud. To be 
     successful in combating senior financial exploitation, state 
     and federal policymakers must come together to weave a new 
     safety net for our elderly, breaking down barriers to 
     identify those who are best positioned to identify red flags 
     early on and to encourage reporting and referrals to 
     appropriate local, county, state, and federal agencies, 
     including law enforcement.
       As you know, state securities regulators, working within 
     the framework of NASAA, are in the late-stages of our own 
     concerted effort to bolster protections for elderly investors 
     at risk of exploitation, including through the development of 
     model legislation to be enacted by states to promote 
     reporting of suspected exploitation. While the approaches 
     contemplated by the recently announced NASAA model 
     legislation and the Senior$afe Act differ in some respects, 
     they are complementary efforts, both undertaken with the 
     shared goal of protecting seniors by increasing the detection 
     and reporting of elderly financial exploitation.
       The SeniorSafe Act consists of several essential features. 
     First, to promote and encourage reporting of suspected 
     elderly financial exploitation by financial services 
     professionals, who are positioned to identify and report 
     ``red flags'' of potential exploitation, the bill would 
     incentivize financial services employees to report any 
     suspected exploitation by making them immune from any civil 
     or administrative liability arising from such a report, 
     provided that they exercised due care, and that they make 
     these reports in good faith. Second, in order to better 
     assure that financial services employees have the knowledge 
     and training they require to identify ``red flags'' 
     associated with financial exploitation, the bill would 
     require that, as a condition of receiving immunity, financial 
     institutions undertake to train certain personnel regarding 
     the identification and reporting of senior financial 
     exploitation as soon as practicable, or within one year. 
     Under the bill, employees who would be required to receive 
     such training as a condition of immunity include supervisory 
     personnel; employees who come into contact with a senior 
     citizen as a regular part of their duties; and employees who 
     review or approve the financial documents, records, or 
     transactions of senior citizens as a part of their regular 
     duties.
       The benefits of the types of reporting that the Senior$afe 
     Act aims to facilitate and encourage are far-reaching. 
     Elderly Americans stand to benefit directly from such 
     reporting, because early detection and reporting can minimize 
     their financial losses from exploitation, and because 
     improved protection of their finances ultimately helps 
     preserve their financial independence and their personal 
     autonomy. Financial institutions stand to benefit, as well, 
     through preservation of their reputation, increased community 
     recognition, increased employee satisfaction, and decreased 
     uninsured losses.
       In conclusion, state securities regulators congratulate you 
     for introducing the Senior$afe Act of 2015. We share and 
     support the goals of this legislation, and look forward to 
     working closely with you as the legislation is considered by 
     the Senate.
           Sincerely,

                                               Judith M. Shaw,

                                                   NASAA President
     and Maine Securities Administrator.

                          ____________________