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Elder Abuse Reporting Legislation Signed Into Law

Legislation that provides employees at financial institutions with immunity when voluntarily disclosing the possible financial abuse of elders was signed into law as part of broader legislation to roll back many of the Dodd-Frank reforms.

President Trump on May 24 signed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155/P.L. 115-174), which is comprised of more than 30 separate, previously introduced bills. According to former Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX), the legislation represents “the most significant pro-growth financial regulatory reform package since the passage of Gramm-Leach-Bliley nearly a generation ago.”

Folded into S. 2155, the Senior Safe Act — originally introduced by Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) — would exempt financial institutions and some of their employees from liability in any civil or administrative proceeding in situations where those employees make a report about the potential exploitation of a senior citizen to a governmental agency so long as the entity has provided training and the report is made in good faith.

The Senior Safe Act portion of the legislation is in section 303 of the Act. It provides that:


  • A supervisor, compliance officer or legal advisor for a covered financial institution who has received training regarding the identification and reporting of the suspected exploitation of a senior citizen shall not be liable for disclosing such exploitation to a covered agency if the individual made the disclosure in good faith and with reasonable care.

  • A covered financial institution shall not be liable for such a disclosure by such an individual if the individual was employed by the institution at the time of the disclosure and the institution had provided such training.


The legislation also provides guidance regarding the content, timing and record-maintenance requirements of such training.

In citing a need for the legislation, an earlier House committee report notes that current bank privacy laws make it difficult for banks, credit unions, investment advisers, broker-dealers and their employees to report any potentially fraudulent activity without incurring legal liability and contends that, as a result, few cases of financial abuse are reported.

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