Aging and Exploitation: How Should the Financial Service Industry Respond?

Elder financial victimization is a growing problem facing older Americans. As the conduits of financial transactions, financial firms are positioned to stop losses at their source. Representatives at small and large firms were interviewed to describe their financial exploitation training and prevention programs, their detection and response protocols, and how they balance the goals of client protection with the client’s right to autonomy and privacy in financial decision-making. Representatives from regulatory agencies were interviewed to describe the interventions firms are authorized to engage in, the legal barriers they face, and recent rule change proposals that may overcome some of these barriers.