Agencies issue statement on financial exploitation of elderly

Five federal financial regulatory agencies, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and state financial regulators issued a joint statement to provide supervised institutions with examples of risk management and other practices that may be effective in combatting elder financial exploitation.

Details: The agencies said banks, credit unions, and other supervised institutions play an important role in combatting elder financial exploitation and recommended that financial institutions:

• Develop effective governance and oversight, including policies and practices to protect account holders and the institution.

• Train employees on recognizing and responding to elder financial exploitation.

• Use transaction holds and disbursement delays as appropriate.

• Establish a trusted contact designation process for account holders.

• File suspicious activity reports.

• Report suspected elder financial exploitation to law enforcement and other appropriate entities.

• Provide financial records to appropriate authorities where consistent with the law.

• Engage with elder fraud prevention and response networks.

• Increase awareness through consumer outreach.

ICBA Resources: ICBA and ICBA CRA Solutions recently released tips for preventing elder financial abuse, such as encouraging consumers to secure private information and to check bank accounts and bill statements carefully.

More: ICBA CRA Solutions and its Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation help banks earn CRA credit by protecting residents of low-income senior housing facilities through programs such as Senior Crimestoppers, Senior Secure, and Senior Sentry.