The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets held a hearing on strengthening protections for Americans against financial fraud and scams, focusing on the rising scale and sophistication of investment and securities-related schemes that disproportionately affect retail investors and seniors. Members and witnesses cited sharp increases in reported losses and scam activity, including a 25% rise in securities and investment fraud offenses between 2020 and 2024 and nearly USD 6 billion in investor losses in 2024. Discussion focused on a multi-level response involving regulators and industry, including the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Cross-Border Task Force targeting malicious foreign actors and the role of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority as a self-regulatory organization with continuous access to firm-level data, routine examinations, and enforcement capabilities that can support earlier detection and intervention. The hearing also highlighted emerging risks such as “ramp-and-dump” schemes involving small Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges using variable interest entity structures, and heard calls for a more proactive regulatory and compliance framework that enables firms to act on forward-looking intelligence and deploy new tools without undue uncertainty.

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