Maine Enacts Senior and Vulnerable Adult Legislation

On April 2, 2019, Maine became the 23rd state to adopt report and hold laws intended to prevent financial exploitation of senior and vulnerable adults. The legislation, which is based on the NASAA Model Act, applies to broker-dealers and state-registered investment advisers and is effective as of July 1, 2019.

The bill’s hold provision is similar to FINRA Rule 2165 and is limited to disbursement requests made under circumstances where financial exploitation is suspected in the account of a senior or vulnerable adult. Other provisions include mandatory reporting of financial exploitation to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Securities Administrator and permissive reporting to third parties previously designated by the customer.