Senate Aging Committee Supports Dodd Financial Reform Bill

Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), and Al Franken (D-MN), all members of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, are hailing a provision included in the Restoring American Financial Stability Act to protect older Americans from fraud at the hands of unscrupulous financial advisors. The provision, included in the bill introduced by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), is based on S. 1661, the Senior Investor Protection Act, which calls for the creation of a new grant program to assist states in their efforts to protect seniors from misleading financial advisor designations. The U.S. House of Representatives included similar provisions in H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009.

“Many of the professions in which consumers place their greatest trust, such as lawyers, doctors, and CPAs, cannot offer their professional services without certain standardized credentials. Seniors should not have to worry that the title after their financial advisor’s name is scarcely more than a marketing ploy, and that it was not earned through sufficiently rigorous financial education or training,” said Senator Kohl, chairman of the Special Committee on Aging. “Currently, there is no nationwide standard governing the fiduciary responsibilities of financial planners. I will continue to work with Chairman Dodd in the coming weeks to enhance consumer protection and increase the accountability and oversight of this profession as part of regulatory reform.”

For more information, visit the Special Committee on Aging

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