Litigating Elder Financial Exploitation Cases: Defending Banks in a Tough Spot — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Legally Qualified: Protecting Against Elder Investment Fraud and Exploitation
On December 13, 2023 Michigan became the latest state to enact legislation to protect elder and vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. Effective March 13, 2024, the new law requires broker-dealers and...more
BACKGROUND- A sugar distributor sought to acquire a sugar producer. The district court determined that the relevant product market included distributors as sources of refined sugar, in addition to sugar producers. The...more
On May 3, 2023, Georgia became the latest state to enact legislation to protect elder and vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. The new law which goes into effect on July 1, 2023, requires broker-dealers and...more
In recent years there has been a spate of legislation and rules passed to protect senior investors. Similarly, observers of FINRA’s and the SEC’s annual priorities will, of course, have noticed both bodies’ inclusion of elder...more
FINRA Rules 2165 (Financial Exploitation of Specified Adults) and parts of 4512 (Customer Account Information) became effective on February 5, 2018 and implemented a framework to permit broker-dealers to place a temporary...more
In 2019, I wrote about a then pending proposal, SB 496 (Moorlach), to add broker-dealers and investment advisers to the category of mandated reporters of known or suspected financial abuse of elders or dependent adults. ...more
On May 18, 2021, South Carolina became the latest state to enact legislation to protect elder and vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. The new law allows broker-dealers and state-registered investment advisers to...more
On April 1, 2021, Arkansas modified its law protecting elder and vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. The enacted Arkansas Senate Bill 151 modifies Arkansas’s financial exploitation law, Ark. Code § 23-42-309, by...more
On March 31, 2021, Nebraska became the latest state to pass legislation to protect elder and vulnerable adults from financial exploitation. The new law allows broker-dealers and investment advisers to report suspected...more
Following the passage of last year’s federal Senior Safe Act, several states moved to beef up protections for senior investors by permitting brokers to act without liability. • Rhode Island’s Senior Savings Protection Act...more
On May 23, 2019, in recognition of the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Senior Safe Act, the SEC, the North American Securities Administrators Association and FINRA issued a fact sheet to raise awareness of the act...more
With older adults increasingly targeted by financial scammers, Governor Bill Lee has proclaimed Saturday, June 15, 2019, as Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Tennessee to warn seniors and their families and help them avoid falling...more
The normal view of undue influence involves an actor threatening an elderly or infirm person into signing a document that he or she otherwise would not sign. One imagines the actor having control over the person and threating...more
The California Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act mandates reporting of suspected financial abuse of an elder or dependent adult. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15630.1. Under the act, a "mandated reporter of...more
The securities industry’s concern over the aging of the U.S. population, specifically, aging investors, has, apparently, reached a fever pitch. On February 5th in New York, SIFMA hosted its “Senior Investor Protection...more
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has published frequently asked questions (FAQs) for complying with new FINRA Rule 2165 (Financial Exploitation of Specified Adults) and amendments to FINRA Rule 4512...more
On February 5, 2018, new FINRA Rule 2165 (Financial Exploitation of Specified Adults) becomes effective, as does an amendment to existing FINRA Rule 4512 (Customer Account Information). Together, these rules will implement...more
In January 2018, FINRA issued guidance on the provisions of Rule 2165 and the amendments to Rule 4512, which were approved in February 2017. The new requirements are aimed at preventing the financial exploitation of seniors,...more
On October 26, 2017, David F. Johnson presented “Legislative Update Impacting Fiduciaries,” to the Texas Bankers Association’s Advanced Trust & Portfolio Management Forum in San Antonio, Texas. This presentation discussed new...more
This legal alert is the first in a series addressing the ever-changing regulatory landscape relating to senior investors, state law, and a broker-dealer’s legal obligation, if any, to protect its vulnerable customers. We...more
Financial exploitation of aging and mentally diminished investors by family members and third parties is on the rise. With America's senior population growing rapidly, this problem may only get worse. More than half of all...more
The SEC recently approved FINRA’s proposed rule aimed at preventing fraud and abuse of senior investors. On March 30, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 17-11, setting the effective date for the new rule as February 5, 2018. The...more
SEC approves FINRA rule designed to protect seniors and other specified adults from financial exploitation. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a new rule proposed by the Financial Industry...more
REGULATION - DOL Issues Additional Guidance on Fiduciary Rule - On January 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a second set of guidance on its new fiduciary rules, which are scheduled to become...more
Last Thursday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) submitted proposed rules to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) designed to address “financial exploitation of seniors and other...more