In its never-ending effort to thwart senior investor fraud, FINRA recently proposed a new rule to the SEC. This proposal would require member firms to obtain the name of a trusted contact person for the customer’s account. The new rule would also allow firms to place temporary holds on the disbursement of funds or securities when there is a reasonable belief of exploitation, and notify the trusted contact of such a hold.

This proposed rule is consistent with the advice I have been giving clients over the years as senior issues became more and more prevalent. So what does the potential formalized rule mean for the business?

It should come as a relief to firms to have this type of safeguard. It is a difficult situation to say the least when a firm is uneasy with what a family member may be doing with a senior client of the firm. This rule change will give you somewhat of an out.

The key for having this proposal work is for the right selection of the trusted contact person. Assuming such a person can be identified, I think that it is a good idea for that person to be designated as a fiduciary to the client on the account applications and the account coded so that this trusted person receives regular account statements regarding the senior account.

By doing this, you as a firm have a separate set of eyes on the account activity by someone who may know the family/personal dynamics better that you. Having that person designated as a fiduciary on the account documents also should lend you some protection in the event that the trusted person is not so trustworthy.

Either way, this new rule should be embraced a positive step to protect both firm and clients.