Regulation
House Passes GUARD Act 414-7 to Combat Elder Financial Fraud
By Insurance Wire Staff, . Insurance Wire.
The House of Representatives passed H.R. 2978, the GUARD Act, by a 414-7 vote, according to the NAIFA Newsroom. The bill, introduced by Representatives Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), is designed to combat elder financial fraud, scams, and cryptocurrency-based confidence schemes.
According to NAIFA's account of the legislation, the bill strengthens coordination between financial institutions and law enforcement, supports the use of blockchain tracing and other emerging technology tools, and requires federal agencies to produce more comprehensive reporting on the scale and drivers of fraud and scams targeting older Americans.
NAIFA, which strongly supports the legislation, is now pushing the Senate to move quickly on a companion bill that was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously earlier this year. That unanimous committee vote, combined with the lopsided 414-7 House margin, suggests the legislation carries rare bipartisan momentum, though Senate floor timing remains unconfirmed.
The House vote coincided with a NAIFA-organized day on Capitol Hill involving financial professionals from Ash Brokerage, who specialize in retirement planning. According to NAIFA Newsroom, those advocates met with lawmakers and key staff to discuss the role of financial professionals in retirement planning and the legislative decisions that affect it.
For carriers, brokers, and advisers working in the retirement and annuity space, the GUARD Act is worth tracking closely. The bill's requirements around federal agency reporting on fraud scale and drivers could eventually produce data that informs underwriting and compliance decisions, particularly as cryptocurrency-linked schemes become a more visible feature of elder financial exploitation. The blockchain tracing provisions also signal that Congress is treating digital asset fraud as a structural problem requiring dedicated investigative tools, not just a consumer education gap.
What the NAIFA report does not establish is the specific compliance or reporting obligations the bill would place on financial institutions, the timeline for Senate floor consideration, or how the federal agency reporting requirements would be structured and distributed. Those details will matter to compliance teams once the Senate acts.
Professionals in retirement planning, elder care financial services, and financial crimes compliance should monitor Senate scheduling and review the companion bill's text for any provisions that differ from the House version.
Source: https://advocacy.naifa.org/news/the-house-passes-the-naifa-supported-guard-act
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