Section 517.34 of the Florida Statutes, which became effective on July 1, 2020, allows a securities dealer or investment adviser to place a delay on a disbursement from, or transaction in, a client account if a reasonable belief exists that the transaction or disbursement is the product of financial exploitation of a person who is 65 years of age or older or who is a vulnerable adult as defined in Section 415.102 of the Florida Statutes. In addition, the statute requires the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) to develop a form to allow securities dealers and investment advisers placing a delay to report the delay to the OFR, as required by the statute.
The OFR has developed interim guidelines to allow securities dealers and investment advisers to fulfill their reporting obligations under the new statute. These new guidelines, and the methodology for making the report, are found by accessing the following link: https://flofr.com/sitePages/documents/NotificationofDelay.pdf. As the OFR cautions in its guidelines, under no circumstances should the securities dealer or investment adviser making the report provide sensitive information identifying the person who is the subject of the report.