Edward Jones backs senior protection rules after $3 million account freeze

After an 86-year-old client was temporarily blocked from withdrawing money from his $3 million investment account held with Edward Jones, the brokerage giant is supporting its practices intended to protect the elderly from financial exploitation or their own reduced mental capacity. 

The Dallas Morning News reports that former IBM salesman Larry Williams told his advisor that he wanted to withdraw money from his multi-million-dollar account to help distressed family members, pay $10,000 to the IRS, pay monthly bills and save for emergencies. Advisors at an Edward Jones office in Dallas reportedly questioned the mental state of Williams and asked him to provide seven documents to prove his identity to help facilitate the attempted transaction.  

Williams was only able to provide six of the seven needed documents, before he was then locked out of his account. Edward Jones enacted a hold that could last up to 55 days under FINRA Rule 2165, which permits firms to place temporary holds on fund disbursements and securities transactions if they suspect the financial exploitation of vulnerable senior customers. 

“We have policies and procedures in place to try to identify red flags, and they're common red flags that you'd be able to find in the industry of older clients who have a dramatic change in their investment pattern or distribution pattern,” Mike Duff, director of senior client protection at Edward Jones, told InvestmentNews. “Maybe they have experienced some form of diminished capacity, et cetera. So they [an advisor] would escalate that concern to our team, and our team would evaluate the situation.” 

Examples of documents Edwards Jones asks from a client during cases of suspected financial exploitation can be a bill to prove needs for sudden funds, powers of attorney or trust documents, or statements to validate outside investment plans.  

The pause of up to 55 days can be used by Edward Jones to share concerns with designated trusted contacts of the client. “Many states require for a mandatory report if we suspect elder exploitation, and so even if we can’t validate it yet, if we suspect it, we would need to report it to adult protective services in most states, also to state securities depending on the state,” added Duff. 

Williams, who held his account at Edward Jones for two decades, has since begun transferring the funds to Merrill Lynch. Duff declined to discuss the Williams case in an interview with InvestmentNews, but an Edward Jones spokesperson sent the following statement regarding the Williams case. 

"Edward Jones follows industry-required safeguards before disbursing funds to help protect clients and uphold the trust they place in us. Our top priority remains serving our clients and helping them achieve financially what is most important to them,” reads the statement from Edward Jones. 

Per The Dallas Morning News, reps from Edward Jones suggested or alluded to questioning whether Williams had dementia or if he might be sending money to terrorist groups or being exploited by his family. "They alluded to the fact that I'm 86 years old and probably have dementia, and therefore they need to take control of me,” said Williams. 

The FTC says older adults reported losing more than $3 billion to fraud in 2025, while the FBI recorded 201,266 complaints from victims over 60 and more than $7.7 billion in reported losses. Attempted new legislation, the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act of 2025, was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives but needs further approval from the Senate. 

Duff adds that, “age is absolutely one of the of the factors, but age alone when somebody's requesting funds, wouldn't be the only factor” for Edward Jones to initiate a review of a client’s request. Other common red flags include romance scams or dramatic investment changes.  

“Sometimes if there's a new party that's involved in the transaction, maybe they [an advisor] can hear somebody in the background or maybe they actually come into an appointment with an individual and are kind of taking over the conversation, those are types of things that would be red flags,” said Duff.  

In June, Edward Jones announced it partnered with financial safety software Carefull, giving the firm’s network of 20,000 advisors visibility into monitoring client assets held outside of Edward Jones.