GAO study

(a) Study Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress and the Senior Investor Taskforce established under subsection (k) of section 4 of the Securities Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. 78d), as added by section 2 of this Act, the results of a study of financial exploitation of senior citizens. (b) Contents The study required under subsection (a) shall include information with respect to— (1) economic costs of the financial exploitation of senior citizens— (A) associated with losses by victims that were incurred as a result of the financial exploitation of senior citizens; (B) incurred by State and Federal agencies, law enforcement and investigatory agencies, public benefit programs, public health programs, and other public programs as a result of the financial exploitation of senior citizens; (C) incurred by the private sector as a result of the financial exploitation of senior citizens; and (D) any other relevant costs that— (i) result from the financial exploitation of senior citizens; and (ii) the Comptroller General determines are necessary and appropriate to include in order to provide Congress and the public with a full and accurate understanding of the economic costs resulting from the financial exploitation of senior citizens in the United States; (2) the frequency of senior financial exploitation and correlated or contributing factors, including— (A) information about the percentage of senior citizens financially exploited each year; and (B) information about factors contributing to increased risk of exploitation, including such factors as race, social isolation, income, net worth, religion, region, occupation, education, home-ownership, illness, and loss of spouse; and (3) policy responses and reporting of senior financial exploitation, including— (A) the degree to which the financial exploitation of senior citizens is unreported to authorities; (B) the reasons that financial exploitation may be unreported to authorities; (C) to the extent that suspected elder financial exploitation is currently being reported to authorities— (i) information regarding which Federal, State, and local agencies are receiving reports, including adult protective services, law enforcement, industry, regulators, and professional licensing boards; (ii) information regarding what information is being collected by such agencies; and (iii) information regarding the actions that are taken by such agencies upon receipt of the report and any limits on the agencies’ ability to prevent exploitation, such as jurisdictional limits, a lack of expertise, resource challenges, or limiting criteria with regard to the types of victims they are permitted to serve; (D) an analysis of gaps that may exist in empowering Federal, State, and local agencies to prevent senior exploitation or respond effectively to suspected senior financial exploitation; and (E) an analysis of the legal hurdles that prevent Federal, State, and local agencies from effectively partnering with each other and private professionals to effectively respond to senior financial exploitation. (c) Senior citizen defined In section, the term senior citizen means an individual over the age of 65.