Interview: Christopher Cox
By Sheyna Steiner and Leslie McFadden • Bankrate.com

Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC, understands firsthand the issues seniors and their family members face in separating investing opportunities from investing scams. In this exclusive interview he explains how his elderly parents were barraged with sales ploys. And he clarifies how the SEC fulfills one of its missions: to ensure that all investors are protected as they plan and save for retirement.

At a glance Name: Christopher Cox Hometown: Newport Beach, Calif. Career highlights:     Became 28th chairman of the SEC on Aug. 3, 2005.   Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, 2001-2005.   Chairman of the House Policy Committee, fourth-ranking leadership post behind the Speaker of the House, 1995-2004.   Senior associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan (1986-1988).   Partner, international law firm of Latham & Watkins.   Founder, Context Corporation.   Graduate of Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School; editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Senior citizens are victimized by investment scams disproportionately to their population size. In fact, even you had experiences with scammers in dealing with your own parents' finances. Can you tell us about that?

Like many Americans, I've had to look after my parents' finances. Before my mother died a few years ago, she was pestered by a seemingly endless barrage of annuity schemes and unsuitable mortgage offers. Despite the fact that she was suffering from throat cancer and could barely speak, she received unsolicited sales pitches over the phone and even in person. Even though my father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, the brokers would prey upon him as well.

The products these brokers were pushing weren't just unsuitable, but affirmatively harmful to anyone in my parents' circumstances. The annuity products locked up their modest savings with huge penalties. I particularly remember one persistent salesman who more than a dozen times pestered my mother to refinance her safe, low-rate 30-year mortgage with a short-term loan that had a balloon and a teaser rate. That would have cost my parents their home when it came due. Even though I personally warned him never to call her again, he continued.

Both in Congress and since I've become chairman of the SEC, I've heard hundreds of similar stories from constituents and colleagues. It is heartbreaking to see a loved one ripped off by semilegal but underhanded tactics. That's why, at the Commission, we're always doing our best to protect everyone as if they're our own mother or relative.