By Scott Birrenkott
A new law was passed this legislative session, which creates the concept of an authorized contact list. The law authorizes a financial service provider (hereafter referred to in the context of “banks”) to contact certain individuals when it reasonably suspects financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
For purposes of this new law, vulnerable adult means an adult at risk, as defined in Wis. Stat. §55.01(1e), or an individual who is at least 65 years of age. A bank may offer to its vulnerable adult customers the opportunity to submit and periodically update a list of persons that the vulnerable adult authorizes the financial service provider to contact when the bank has reasonable cause to suspect that the vulnerable adult is a victim or a target of financial exploitation.
Financial exploitation has the meaning given in s. 46.90(1)(ed), which is the section of law that allows for banks to voluntarily report financial exploitation to a County Elder-Adult-at-Risk Agency if a bank suspects financial exploitation of an elder adult at risk person. For example, those same scenarios with which a bank may report pursuant to a memorandum of understanding.
When a bank has reasonable cause to suspect that a vulnerable adult customer is the victim of financial exploitation, it may contact any of the following persons:
• Any person on the List of Authorized Contacts, if a list has been provided by the vulnerable adult.
• Any co−owner, additional authorized signatory, or beneficiary on the account of the vulnerable adult.
• Any person known by the financial service provider to be a family member, including a parent, spouse, adult child, or sibling.
The new law gives the bank the option to contact, or not contact, any person on the list. It also gives the option to disclose, or not disclose, any information as it deems appropriate. Furthermore, banks receive protections under the law when acting in good faith to decide to contact, or not contact, someone on the list.
Banks should consider whether any existing procedures need be modified given the new law, including to determine if and when a list of authorized contacts is to be used, when such list should be updated by customers, identify how to monitor or recognize that an account has a list on file, and to establish what steps frontline staff should take to alert management, the BSA officer, or other staff of a particular situation for further review and determination of next steps.
The new law, Wisconsin Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults, 2013 Wisconsin Act 132 may be found at: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2023/related/acts/132.pdf
Additional information can also be found in the May edition of the WBA Compliance Journal. If you have any questions regarding the new law, please contact WBA legal at wbalegal@wisbank.com or call us at 608-441-1200.
Birrenkott is the WBA director – legal
By Dave Oldenburg