National Senior Investor Initiative Report

One of the primary missions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) is the protection of investors, of which senior investors are an important and growing subset. As part of a collaborative effort, staff of the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”)1  and FINRA (collectively, the “staff”) conducted 44 examinations of broker-dealers in 2013 that focused on how firms conduct business with senior investors as they prepare for and enter into retirement. These examinations focused on investors aged 65 years old or older; this report refers to these investors as “senior investors.” 

This report highlights recent industry trends that have impacted the investment landscape and prior regulatory initiatives that have concentrated on senior investors and industry practices related to senior investors. Additionally, the report discusses key observations and practices identified during the recent series of examinations. These examinations focused on a broad range of topics, including the types of securities being sold to senior investors, training of firm representatives with regard to senior specific issues and how firms address issues relating to aging (e.g., diminished capacity and elder financial abuse or exploitation), use of senior designations, firms’ marketing and communications to senior investors, types of customer account information required to open accounts for senior investors, suitability of securities sold to senior investors, disclosures provided to senior investors, complaints filed by senior investors and the ways firms tracked those complaints, and supervision of registered representatives as they interact with senior investors. OCIE and FINRA staff are providing this information to broker-dealers to facilitate a thoughtful analysis with regard to their existing policies and procedures related to senior investors and senior-related topics and whether these policies and procedures need to be further developed or refined.