Regulators Tuesday pushed financial advisors, financial institutions and others to report suspected elder abuse to law enforcement officials without worrying about violating customer privacy.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act usually requires a financial institution to notify consumers and give them an opportunity to opt out before providing nonpublic personal information to a third party, such as law enforcement officials. However, the act has specific provisions that permit the sharing of elder abuse information under appropriate circumstances without complying with notice and opt-out requirements, the agencies said in formal guidance.

Taking the lead in the announcement, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the guidance is also aimed at letting social service agencies know they can ask financial institutions for personal financial information about suspected elderly victims without being barred because of privacy.

The guidance says financial businesses and their workers “generally” don’t have to be concerned about violating privacy rights, but the CFPB said it could not think of a specific exemption where privacy should prevent disclosure.

In addition to the CFPB, the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Trade Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Securities and Exchange Commission participated in the joint guidance.