HR-7966 : Still Just a Bill

H.R. 7966, the Protecting our Service Members and their Families from Predatory Financial Practices Act, aims to ensure that financial services counselors providing services to members of the Armed Forces are financially independent and free from conflicts of interest.

Key provisions of the bill include:

• Mandatory Financial Disclosures: Requires financial services counselors to submit annual financial disclosures to the Secretary of Defense.
• Conflict of Interest Review: Mandates the Secretary of Defense to review these disclosures to ensure counselors are free from financial conflicts.
• Prohibition of Conflicted Counselors: Prevents counselors with identified conflicts from providing services until the conflict is resolved.
• Annual Reports to Congress: Requires the Secretary of each military department to submit annual reports to Congress on the percentage of financial counselors determined to be free from conflicts of interest.

In short, this bill seeks to protect service members and their families from potentially biased or predatory financial advice by ensuring that financial counselors are transparent and unbiased.