Fighting financial elder abuse.

• Position: Letter to the editor

State securities regulators and adult protective services providers announce a partnership to prevent elder abuse.

On June 15, 2009, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and the National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) announced that they will join forces to protect seniors from the growing threat of elder financial abuse, which includes financial exploitation and securities fraud.

Financial abuse is considered to be the most common form of abuse to elders, costing its victims an estimated $2.6 billion a year, according to a recent study sponsored by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. For every one case of abuse reported to authorities, an estimated four or more cases go unreported. The NASAA and NAPSA partnership aims to eliminate elder financial abuse by providing tools to identify and report financial exploitation.

Resources are available to help CPA firms and other service providers and family members to...