DBA Digest for August 30, 2024

DBA Members Honored in Delaware's Top Workplaces 2024!

Seven DBA Members and Associate Members have been honored in the 2023 News Journal Best Workplace Awards. In the large company category (400 or more employees) Capital One Financial Corporation and WSFS Bank ranked in the top five (3rd and 4th, respectively). In the mid-size category (100 to 399 employees), Morris James LLP ranked first; Discover Financial Services ranked 12th. In the small company category (less than 100 employees), Santora CPA Group (2nd); Connolly Gallagher (4th); Community Bank Delaware (12th); and, Belfint, Lyons, & Shuman, P.A. (15th); were recognized. Congratulations to all the honorees!

Foundations of Delaware Trusts - 3 New Sessions - Live and On-Demand!

Don't miss the three new sessions in the Foundations of Delaware Trusts series! These sessions will be held live via Zoom, and will also be available on-demand for continued viewing. Take advantage of these great training tools to education your entire staff! The sessions are just $199 each for DBA members or order all three for just $499. 3.0 credit hours applied for!

September 25th - 9:00 a.m. - Transferring Trust Situs: Techniques and Practical Considerations. Instructors: Matthew P. D'Emilio, Managing Member, McCollom D'Emilio Smith Uebler LLC; Kerry Porter, Senior Fiduciary Director, Brown Brothers Harriman Trust Company of Delaware, N.A.

September 27th, 9:00 a.m. - Advanced GST Tax Practices - Instructors: Cynthia D.M. Brown, President, Commonwealth Trust Company; Kimberly Gill McKinnon, Director, Gordon, Fournaris and Mammarella, P.A.

October 2nd, 9:00 a.m. - BSA/AML for Trusts - Instructors: Danielle R. Albrecht, CAMS, CFIRS, AML/BSA Vice President, Glenmede; Michael Bridgeman, CFP, CFIRS, Chief Compliance and Risk Officer at the Trust Company of the South; Mark Gray, Mark Gray Consulting Group.

Delaware Trust Conference:

Sunday Night Kickoff Reception!

The 2024 Delaware Trust Conference will kick off with a reception Sunday, October 27, 5 to 7 p.m. at the DuPont Environmental Education Center, 1400 Delmarva Lane, Wilmington. Experience the best of Delaware’s wildlife. DEEC features panoramic river and marsh views, and a 10-acre ornamental garden. Tickets to this exclusive reception event are just $150. Platinum and Diamond Sponsors receive two free registrations to the reception with their sponsorships. Space is limited! Register via the link below!

2024 Delaware Trust Conference!

18 CLE Credits Approved!

You'll hear the top wealth management experts at the 2024 Delaware Trust Conference!Learn how to maximize the Delaware Trust advantage for your clients! The Delaware Trust Conference is an ideal opportunity to network while obtaining continuing education credit for: Trust Professionals, Portfolio Managers, Financial Advisors, Attorneys, CPAs, CTFAs, Wealth & Asset Management Services Executives, Executive Trust Officers, Investment Officers, Investment Managers, and Trust Department Managers.  The 2024 Delaware Trust Conference will be live at The Chase Center on the Riverfront, AND live-streamed, October 28 and 29. The sessions will also be available on-demand through November!

Breaking Bad Writing Habits - September 10

Have you ever considered what your bad habits are and how they influence the perception of you they convey? This new course will provide a safe environment for you to explore those habits and create strategies to help you replace them with good ones. Participants will identify their bad writing, speaking, and interpersonal communication habits; develop good habits to develop impressive communication reputations; strategize ways to flip the bad to good; and practice those new techniques with each other.

Join Linda Comerford, Comerford Consulting for this valuable on-line course via Zoom, September 10, 2024: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Just $99 per person for DBA members/$149 per person for non-members.

2024 FDIC Directors' College - September 11

Registration is now open for the 2024 FDIC Directors' College, September 11, 8:00 to 1:00, at the University of Delaware Virdin Center, 1155 College Drive, Lewes, DE. The FDIC Directors’ College is an interactive program that provides ongoing education on current topics of bank supervision to bank directors, senior officers, corporate secretaries, and board advisors. The course is designed to help directors and trustees, both new and experienced, stay abreast of the ever-changing regulatory environment. Modules this year include: Identifying Redlining Risk; Liquidity Contingency Planning and Risk Mitigation; Risk Assessments - The Basics, the Benefits, and the Pitfalls; Conversation with Regulators; and an Economics/Banking Update. Lunch is also included. Please click on the link below to view the detailed agenda and to register.

Upcoming OnCourse Learning Webinars!

New BSA Officer Training - September 3rd

You have been appointed as the new Bank Secrecy Officer for your bank. You now feel like a deer caught in the headlights - what to do, where to start, who can help? 

Audience: This webinar is designed for new BSA Officers, BSA coordinators, and those who assist BSA Officers such as Security, OFAC and Compliance Officers. 

BSA/AML: Crypto and Virtual Currency - September 4th

Crypto and other virtual currencies are inherently higher risk. Being higher risk, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that the activity itself or the customer relationship, as a whole, are bad. There’s just more risk than there may be with other types of activity or customer relationships you may have. These do directly impact your BSA/AML compliance program and therefore it’s important that before you get into a relationship with a customer that is in the crypto/virtual industry, you need to make sure that you've done your due diligence to understand the customer, their business, their activity, etc.

Learn more and browse all the webinars via the link below.

Bank of America Private Bank Market Minute

Major U.S. Indexes continued to see positive gains last week, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average each up around 1.5% last week. At last Friday’s close, the S&P 500 was just 0.6% below its July 16high. At the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, Chairman Powell confirmed that “the time has come for policy to adjust,” solidifying expectations of a rate cut in September, after minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s July meeting revealed that several participants saw the case for an interest rate cut in July given progress on inflation and a rising unemployment rate. Rate cut expectations spurred the Russell 2000 Small-cap benchmark to rise more than 3% last Friday in its best day since mid-July. Also outperforming its large cap counterpart, the S&P 500’s equal weight index rose 2% over the week.

21 Connolly Gallagher Attorneys Recognized in the 2025 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America®

Connolly Gallagher LLP is proud to announce our team’s recognition in the 2025 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, with 16 of our attorneys designated as Best Lawyers and 5 attorneys as Ones to Watch, spanning all of our core practice areas and disciplines.

Every year, Best Lawyers® conducts extensive peer-reviewed research into the legal skills, professionalism, and integrity of U.S. attorneys. The publication then identifies the top attorneys in the most high-profile practices and awards the distinctions Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch. We are honored that Best Lawyers® continues to celebrate members of our team for their consistently excellent work!

Richards Layton Launches Arbitration & Mediation Practice

Greg Williams

Kevin Gross

Richards, Layton & Finger is proud to announce the firm’s new Arbitration & Mediation practice. Led by Greg Williams and Kevin Gross, we are deepening our existing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice as we remain focused on expanding our services and meeting the needs of all parties involved.

Our ADR lawyers use their deep legal and judicial experience to achieve durable agreements in even the most intractable disputes. Always committed to advancing our clients’ business goals in the most efficient, effective manner, our team forges creative solutions beyond those available in contested litigation.



“The rules and procedures for ADR in Delaware continue to develop, and we have long been directly involved in the evolution of this area of practice,” explains Lisa Schmidt, president of Richards Layton. “In fact, in 2015 several of our lawyers participated in drafting Delaware’s innovative Rapid Arbitration Act, and followed that by publishing The Practitioner’s Guide to the Delaware Rapid Arbitration Act. As we launch our new Mediation and Arbitration practice area, we continue to find ways to grow, innovate, and deliver top-notch legal services to our clients.”

Santora CPA Group Announces an Addition to its Team

Santora CPA Group, a Newark-based Certified Public Accounting and Consulting firm, announced that Leah M. Crumpton has joined SCG as a Staff Accountant in its Tax & A&A Departments. She graduated from Delaware State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting in 2024.

Leah started her career as an intern with us during the summer of 2023. She will be providing auditing, accounting, and a variety of tax preparation services to SCG's clients. She is also preparing to go back to school and study for the CPA exam. Leah is a member of the American Institute and the Delaware Society of Certified Public Accountants.

UD Trust Management Golf Classic - September 23!

Golf enthusiasts and supporters of the UD Trust Management Minor, On September 23, 2024, the UD Trust Management Minor is hosting the 2^nd Annual Trust Management Classic at Newark County Club. Sponsorship opportunities and golf registrations are available. Take advantage of the 10% early bird registration discount now until August 15, 2024. For questions, please contact Jennifer Zelvin McCloskey at lerner-trustmanagement@udel.edu