[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 24, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S449-S451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Isakson, Mr. 
        Casey, Mr. Tillis, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Shaheen, 
        Mrs. Capito, Mr. Tester, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Donnelly, Mr. 
        Heller, Mr. King, and Mr. Kaine):
  S. 223. 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 introduce, with my good friend and former 
ranking member, Senator Claire McCaskill, the Senior$afe Act of 2017, a 
bill that would help protect American seniors from financial fraud. I'm 
pleased that Senators Isakson, Casey, Tillis, Klobuchar, Wicker, 
Shaheen, Capito, Tester, Barrasso, Donnelly, Heller, and King have 
joined us in sponsoring this bill.
  According to the GAO, financial fraud targeting older Americans is a 
growing epidemic that costs seniors an estimated $2.9 billion annually. 
Stopping this tsunami of fraud is one of the top priorities of the 
Aging Committee. Last Congress, we held several hearings examining an 
endless variety of financial abuses targeting our nation's seniors. 
These range from the notorious IRS phone scam that burst onto the scene 
in 2015, to the incredible ``drug mule'' scam, where trusting seniors 
have been tricked by international narcotics traffickers into 
unwittingly serving as drug couriers, and then find themselves arrested 
and locked-up in foreign jails. The common denominator in these schemes 
involves innocent seniors falling prey and being tricked out of their 
hard-earned savings.
  Sadly, not all scammers are strangers to their victims, in too many 
cases, seniors are exploited by someone they know well. Sometimes, that 
abuse is perpetrated by ``friends'' or family members who are handling 
the victim's affairs informally. Other times, the abuse is committed 
under color of a fiduciary relationship, such as a Power of Attorney or 
guardianship.
  No matter the scheme, 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

[[Page S450]]

too trusting or are suffering from diminished capacity, but, just as 
often, they miss the signs because the swindlers who prey on them are 
extremely 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 
fmancial 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 has 
stopped a fraud in progress, saving seniors untold thousands of 
dollars.
  Let me give you an example. Last year, an attorney in the small 
coastal city of Belfast, ME, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for 
bilking two elderly female clients out of nearly a half a million 
dollars over the course of several years.
  The lawyer's brazen theft was uncovered when a teller at a local bank 
noticed that he was writing large checks to himself on his clients' 
accounts. When confronted by authorities, he offered excuses that the 
prosecutor later described as ``breathtaking.'' For example, according 
to press reports, he put one of his clients into a nursing home to 
recover from a temporary medical condition, and then kept her there for 
four years until the theft of her funds came to light. Meanwhile, he 
submitted bills for ``services,'' sometimes totaling $20,000 a month, 
including charging her $250 per hour for 6 to 7 hours to check on her 
house, even though his office was just a one-minute drive down the 
road.
  In another example, in 2015, a senior citizen in Vassalboro, Maine, 
was looking to wire funds from his account at Maine Savings Federal 
Credit Union to an out-of-state location, supposedly to bail out a 
relative who was in jail. Something about this transaction did not 
sound right to the credit union employee. She asked the customer, and 
he said he had received a call from an ``official'' at the jail--but 
that ``official'' had instructed him not to speak to anyone about this. 
The ``official,'' of course, turned out to be a con artist.
  Fortunately, the credit union worker recognized this as a scam, and 
her quick thinking saved her customer from falling victim and losing 
his savings.
  These stories demonstrate the critical nexus that financial 
institutions occupy between fraudsters and their victims. Their 
employees, if properly trained, can be the first line of defense 
protecting our seniors from these criminals. Regrettably, various state 
and federal laws can inadvertently impede efforts to protect seniors, 
because financial institutions that report suspected fraud can be 
exposed to litigation. The Senior$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.
  There is no doubt that financial fraud and scams targeting seniors is 
a growing problem that we must act on. Last November, the Aging 
Committee heard testimony from Jaye Martin, the Executive Director of 
Maine Legal Services for the Elderly, who told the Committee that her 
organization has seen a 24 percent increase in reports of elder abuse 
in just one year. Many of these cases involve financial fraud.
  In a letter describing her support for the Senior$afe Act, Ms. Martin 
says that:

       In a landscape that includes family members who often wish 
     to keep exploitation from coming to light because they are 
     perpetrating the exploitation, the risk of facing potential 
     nuisance or false complaints over privacy violations is all 
     too real. This is a barrier that must be removed so that 
     financial institutions will act immediately to report to the 
     proper authorities upon forming a reasonable belief that 
     exploitation is occurring. These professionals are on the 
     front lines in the fight against elder financial exploitation 
     and are often the only ones in a position to stop 
     exploitation before it is too late.

  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.
  I am pleased that our bill has received bipartisan support in both 
houses of Congress. Last year, the House Financial Services Committee 
approved a version of the Senior$afe Act by a vote of 59 to zero, and 
it passed the full House by voice vote in July. In the Senate, the 
Senior$afe Act was cosponsored by a quarter of the Members of this 
body, balanced nearly evenly on both sides of the aisle, and was 
discharged out of the Banking Committee. Unfortunately, just one member 
of this body blocked it and prevented it from becoming law.
  Besides receiving broad support in Congress, our bill has the support 
of a wide range of stakeholders, ranging from the State securities 
administrators and insurance commissioners to advocates for seniors.
  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. 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.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that letters of support be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                    Legal Services


                                              for the Elderly,

                                    Augusta, ME, December 5, 2016.
     Re Senior$afe (S. 2216).

     Hon. Susan Collins,
     Chair, Senate Special Committee on Aging, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Collins: I want to thank you for inviting me 
     to speak with the Senate Special Committee on Aging about the 
     serious problem of financial exploitation of seniors by 
     guardians and others in a position of power. I also want to 
     thank you for your leadership in working to ensure there is 
     training of financial institution employees in reporting 
     elder abuse and an improvement in the timely reporting of 
     financial exploitation when it is suspected through passage 
     of the Senior$afe Act. I strongly support this legislation 
     that is based upon work done here in Maine.
       I served for over two years on the working group that 
     developed Maine's SeniorSafe training program for financial 
     institution managers and employees. It is a voluntary 
     training program. Through that work I came to fully 
     appreciate the very real concerns of the financial industry 
     regarding the consequences of violating, or being perceived 
     as violating, the broad range of state and federal privacy 
     laws that apply to their industry. I also came to appreciate 
     that absent broad immunity for reporting of suspected 
     financial exploitation, privacy regulations would continue to 
     be a barrier to good faith reporting of suspected financial 
     exploitation. In a landscape that includes family members who 
     often wish to keep exploitation from coming to light because 
     they are perpetrating the exploitation, the risk of facing 
     potential nuisance or false complaints over privacy 
     violations is all too real.
       This is a barrier that must be removed so that financial 
     institution employees will act immediately to make a report 
     to the proper authorities upon forming a reasonable belief 
     that exploitation is occurring. These professionals are on 
     the front lines in the fight against elder financial 
     exploitation and are often the only ones in a position to 
     stop exploitation before it is too late.
       I want to add that tying the grant of immunity to required 
     training for not just supervisors, compliance officers, and 
     legal advisors, but to all who come in contact with seniors 
     as a part of their regular duties, will have the direct 
     result of bringing more cases of exploitation to the timely 
     attention of the proper authorities because it will 
     significantly increase the knowledge and awareness in the 
     industry of the red flags for elder abuse. In Maine, where 
     our training program is entirely voluntary and carries no 
     legal status or benefit, we have already seen what a 
     difference training can make.
       Senior$afe is a much needed step in the fight against 
     financial exploitation of seniors and there is no doubt it 
     will make our nation's seniors safer. I thank you again for 
     your leadership in this important area.
           Sincerely,
                                                   Jaye L. Martin,
                                               Executive Director.

[[Page S451]]

     
                                  ____
                                         North American Securities


                             Administration Association, Inc.,

                                 Washington, DC, January 24, 2017.
     Re The Senior$afe Act of 2017.

     Hon. Susan Collins,
     Chair, U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Senator Collins: On behalf of the North American 
     Securities Administrators Association (``NASAA''), I am 
     writing to express strong support for your work to better 
     protect vulnerable adults from financial exploitation through 
     the introduction of the Senior$afe Act of 2017. Your 
     legislation will better protect persons aged 65 and older 
     from financial exploitation by increasing the likelihood it 
     will be identified by financial services professionals, and 
     by removing barriers to reporting it, so that together we as 
     state securities regulators and other appropriate 
     governmental authorities can help stop it.
       Senior financial exploitation is a growing problem across 
     the country. Many in our elderly population are vulnerable 
     due to social isolation and distance from family, caregiver, 
     and other support networks. Indeed, evidence suggests that as 
     many as one out of every five citizens over the age of 65 has 
     been victimized by a financial fraud. To be successful in 
     combating senior financial exploitation, state and federal 
     policymakers must come together to weave a new safety net for 
     our elderly, breaking down barriers for those who are best 
     positioned to identify red flags early on and to encourage 
     reporting and referrals to appropriate local, county, state, 
     and federal agencies, including law enforcement.
       The Senior$afe 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.
       The Senior$afe Act's objectives and benefits are far-
     reaching. Older Americans stand to benefit directly from such 
     reporting, because early detection and reporting will 
     minimize their financial losses from exploitation, and 
     because improved protection of their finances ultimately 
     helps preserve their financial independence and their 
     personal autonomy. Financial institutions stand to benefit, 
     as well, through preservation of their reputation, increased 
     community recognition, increased employee satisfaction, and 
     decreased uninsured losses.
       In conclusion, state securities regulators strongly support 
     passage of the Senior$afe Act of 2017. Please do not hesitate 
     to contact me, or Michael Canning, NASAA Director of Policy, 
     if we may be of any additional assistance.
           Sincerely,

                                                 Mike Rothman,

                                    NASAA President and Minnesota,
                                         Commissioner of Commerce.
                                 ______