Money Watch•3 MIN READ

House Passes 414-2 to Give Investment Firms Power to Freeze Suspicious Senior Account Withdrawals

Laura Bennett

Updated Jul 8, 2026

A bill to protect older Americans from investment fraud passed the House with one of the most lopsided votes Congress has produced in years. The Senate still needs to act.

What You Should Know

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2025 on June 25, 2026, by a vote of 414 to 2, according to reporting by TheStreet and InvestmentNews. The legislation would give mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and their transfer agents explicit federal authority to temporarily delay redemptions of securities when they suspect a customer 65 or older - or a customer with a mental or physical impairment - is being financially exploited. The delay can last up to 15 business days initially, with a possible 10-day extension once exploitation is confirmed.

Under current law, broker-dealers already have similar authority under FINRA rules, but mutual funds and ETFs have lacked a comparable federal standing. The bill fills that gap, creating the first federal framework that allows investment companies to intervene before scam proceeds leave a client’s account, according to Financial Planning magazine.

The Money Trail

The FTC reported that adults 60 and older filed $2.4 billion in fraud losses in 2024, up 26.3 percent from $1.9 billion in 2023, and up 300 percent from $600 million in 2020, according to CNBC reporting on the bill’s passage. Because most fraud goes unreported, the FTC estimated real losses experienced by older adults in 2024 may be as much as $81.5 billion. Investment fraud is a particularly fast-growing category: losses involving individual amounts of $100,000 or more accounted for $1.6 billion, or 68 percent, of the total reported amount.

The bipartisan vote was notable by any measure in the current Congress. Democrats provided 207 yes votes, Republicans 206, and only 2 members voted against it, according to Legis1 coverage.

The Receipts

The CNBC article published on July 2, 2026 confirmed the bill’s passage and cited the FTC fraud data. TheStreet reported on the vote and the bill’s mechanism on July 5, 2026. InvestmentNews confirmed that a nearly identical version had passed the House 419-0 in 2023 but expired after the Senate failed to act. The bill now heads to the Senate, where a companion measure, S. 2840, is pending before the Banking Committee.

What Happens Next

Senate action is uncertain. The companion bill is sitting in the Banking Committee with no scheduled vote. A previous identical bill died in the Senate after clearing the House unanimously in 2023. If the Senate does not act before the current Congress expires, the legislation would need to be reintroduced. In the meantime, seniors can protect themselves by designating a trusted contact on brokerage and mutual fund accounts, a step that FINRA already encourages for broker-dealer accounts.

References: CNBC, House Lawmakers Approved a Bipartisan Bill to Protect Older Adults From Financial Fraud | TheStreet, House Fires Back at $2.4 Billion Senior Fraud Wave | InvestmentNews, House Passes Bipartisan Bill to Shield Seniors From Investment Fraud | Financial Planning, House Backs an Emergency Brake on Elder Fraud

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The News And Beyond team was assisted by generative AI technology in creating this content.

House Passes 414-2 to Give Investment Firms Power to Freeze Suspicious Senior Account Withdrawals

What You Should Know

The Money Trail

The Receipts

What Happens Next

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