On Friday, September 30, 2022, AARP submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) addressing the agency’s Draft Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022-2026. AARP’s letter points out that the SEC’s Draft Plan “fails to make any reference to older investors, much less contemplate policies or programs targeted toward the protection of older Americans,” and urges that the SEC revise the Plan to affirm “that protecting older Americans remain a top priority for the Commission.
AARP’s letter also:
- Highlights the lack of a reference to older Americans throughout the entirety of the Plan;
- Calls on the SEC to affirmatively state that Regulation Best Interest is an enforcement priority;
- Asks for clarity on complex products, effective disclosures.
- Calls for “more, and more effective, disclosures in certain private and quasi-private offerings“
- Urges the SEC to “revisit and modernize the ‘Accredited Investor’ definition,” and specifically, to “update the income and net-worth thresholds used in the definition.”
- Requests enhancement of SEC education and outreach to older investors about digital assets and fraud; and
- Calls on the SEC to affirm the importance of the Investor Advisory Committee (IAC);
