Raymond Lynch, managing counsel for the Wells Fargo Legal Department in Boston, recently testified on behalf of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association before the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee in support of HB 2549
The bill, also known as the Older Adults Protective Services Act, would create amendments and provisions relating to administration, criminal history for employees, and reporting suspected abuse by employees.
The bill would give financial institutions the power to delay disbursements of funds or transactions for a limited time to prevent financial exploitation, and offer a grant of standing to financial institutions/fiduciaries/mandated reporters to begin a court proceeding to obtain protective services for an elder or an order to prohibit certain financial transactions. It would also give area agencies on aging and law enforcement the ability to obtain bank records without a subpoena to conduct their investigations.
“Banks across the commonwealth take regular measures to detect and respond to potential exploitation of older customers while striving to preserve their safety, security, privacy, and dignity,” Lynch said. “Despite the banking industry’s best efforts to educate our seniors and those who care for them about the potential for elder financial abuse, current Pennsylvania laws offer very limited tools for financial institutions to do something about it when it happens,” he continued.”