Pursuant to Senate Bill 599, new protections for senior investors went into effect August 28. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announced the changes to Sections 409.605 to 409.630, RSMo., also called the Senior Savings Protection Act.

“These are necessary changes to the Senior Savings Protection Act provide our office additional tools to protect all Missouri investors, but especially the most vulnerable,” Ashcroft said. “I’m pleased we are making changes to civil penalties – removing the cap on civil penalties for multiple violations and increasing the per violation cap. It’s important to have these increased penalties in place to be part of the orders handed down to broker-dealers or fraudsters who have taken advantage of Missouri investors.”

A news release says in SB 599, the House and Senate passed amendments which will protect senior Missourians. Specifically, the bill updates definitions of key terms to match industry standards and allows the commissioner of securities or director of the Department of Health and Senior Services to better protect investors. It removes the cap on civil penalties for multiple violations, increases the per violation cap from $10,000 to $25,000 and increases the civil penalty for violations against elderly individuals from $5,000 to $15,000.

Other key enhancements include:
• Modifying the definition of “qualified individual” to include broker-dealers, investment advisers, or persons associated with a broker-dealer or investment adviser;
• Adding transactions to the events that may be placed on hold (10 business days) to extend the refusal long enough to protect the vulnerable person; • Establishing that a subsequent extension of a hold must be reviewed every 30 days, acting as a safeguard for Missouri investors; and
• Requiring the commissioner to make training resources available to investment advisers and investment adviser representatives regarding prevention and detection of financial exploitation.