U.S. House Passes McCaskill's Bipartisan Bill to Protect Seniors from Financial Exploitation

Press Release

The U.S. House unanimously passed U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill's bipartisan legislation that would allow financial institutions to report suspected exploitive or fraudulent activity to authorities when they notice unusual activity in the accounts of their clients over the age of 65.

McCaskill's legislation, co-sponsored by Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, passed the Senate Banking Committee last December and awaits consideration by the full Senate.

"Helping protect our seniors from financial exploitation is a goal we can all get behind, and I'm glad my House colleagues are continuing to move this commonsense plan forward with broad, bipartisan support," said McCaskill, a former courtroom prosecutor. "Financial professionals ought to be able to safely and securely take steps to protect seniors and their life savings when they're often the ones who can best identify and spot signs of fraud or abuse."

"As the Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, putting a stop to fraud and financial exploitation targeting seniors has been my top priority," said Collins. "I am pleased that the House unanimously passed our commonsense plan, based on Maine's innovative Senior $afe program, which will empower and encourage our financial service representatives to identify warning signs of common scams and help prevent seniors from becoming victims."

The Senior $afe Act would provide immunity to banks, credit unions, broker-dealers and investment advisers who in good faith report potential incidents of exploitation of a senior to state or federal financial regulatory agencies, law enforcement agencies and/or a state's adult protective services agency. To qualify for immunity, the financial professionals raising these red flags would be required to undergo training to identify potential financial exploitation.

Under current law, some banks have expressed concern that they could be violating their clients' privacy rights and therefore be susceptible to administrative or civil liability for sharing information. According to the country's top watchdog, financial fraud targeting older Americans is a growing epidemic that costs seniors an estimated $2.9 billion annually.

McCaskill has long worked to protect seniors from fraud and scams, fighting to lower the costs of prescription drugs and hearing aids, maintaining access to health care services, and ensuring that hardworking Missourians receive the retirement benefits they've been promised.

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