New Hampshire Is Latest State to Enact Bill to Protect Seniors

By Melanie Waddell

News August 22, 2019 at 02:56 PM

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New Hampshire has become the latest state to enact legislation to combat senior exploitation based on a model rule developed by the North American Securities Administrators Association.

So far this year, Virginia, Arizona and Maine have also enacted similar bills, bringing to 23 the number of states with laws based on the NASAA Model Act to Protect Vulnerable Adults From Financial Exploitation.

NH S 252, which passed with bipartisan support in the New Hampshire House and Senate in July, permits broker-dealers and investment advisors to delay disbursements from accounts of eligible individuals when the BD or advisors, or other qualified individuals, "reasonably believe that the requested disbursement may result in financial exploitation," said Tim Fisher and Indrika Arnold, board members of the Financial Planning Association of Northern New England, in a recent statement.

The New Hampshire bill was signed into law on July 10. NASAA also lists other states that have passed similar legislation based on its model rule.

Members of the FPA of Northern New England advocated in support of NH S 252, and worked to amend the bill's language to align with New Hampshire statutes.

NASSA expects "more legislative activity" around senior exploitation issues when state sessions resume next year, a NASAA spokesman told ThinkAdvisor on Thursday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is also performing a retrospective review of its rules to protect senior investors from financial exploitation, which includes BDs' disbursement of funds. The comment period on FINRA's rule expires on Oct. 8.

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