DBA Digest for January 10, 2025

Delaware Bankers President & CEO Sarah Long Announces Retirement

The Delaware Bankers Association and the Delaware Financial Education Alliance announced after 10 years as President & CEO, Sarah A. Long will retire effective May 31, 2025, capping over a 30-year career in Financial Services. Ms. Long is just the fifth administrative director in the 130-year history of the DBA. She will continue leading the DBA until a search process is completed for a successor.

“It has been a great honor to support the growth and well-being of our communities by helping to shape the future of the financial services industry in Delaware,” Ms. Long said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work with some of the most incredibly talented, hardworking people dedicated to creating jobs and growing Delaware’s economy.”

During her time at the Association, she served as the Chair of the American Bankers Association national Alliance of State Bankers Associations and on the Board of the American Bankers Association. She has also been on the boards of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, Healthy Communities Delaware, the University of Delaware Alumni Association, the University of Delaware’s Lerner College Trust Management Minor Advisory Board, and the Identity Theft Assistance Corporation. Ms. Long graduated from the University of Delaware with a BS degree and earned her MBA from Widener University.

2025 Teach Children to Save Day! Join the Growing List of Comic Book Sponsors!

The list of sponsors for the new 2025 Delaware Teach Children to Save Day comic book continues to grow! Join Sponsors: Barclays, TD Bank, Artisans' Bank, M&T Bank, Visa, Comenity Bank, County Bank, and Shore United Bank!

Joining The Great Investo and Penny on their adventure into saving will be The Mystical Saveroo, the Savings Genie. The book will teach the importance of saving for a financially independent future. Each student will receive a copy of the book to keep. Sponsorships of the comic book are available. Please contract Sarah Long or Greg Koseluk for more information on sponsoring.

The 2025 event will be throughout the week of April 7th. Banker registration will begin in February, so stay tuned!

Don't Miss These Upcoming OnCourse Learning Webinars!

Handling Deceased Deposit Accounts and Checks After Death - January 14th

When your account holder dies, many issues and questions arise. Who can have information on the account? Who owns the account? What has access to the account? What happens with powers of attorney and authorized signers on account? Can the spouse of the sole proprietor continue to access the account? What about that last tax refund check? Is the account still insured? Can a check be written to a funeral home? What about the checks coming in to pay funeral expense?

Audience: This webinar is designed for customer/member service representatives, branch administration, branch managers, tellers, training and development staff, compliance personnel, and anyone who handles customer/member accounts.

Alert! Federal Regulatory Agencies Issue Guidance on Elder Programs - January 16th

Elder financial exploitation is the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds or other resources for the benefit of an unauthorized recipient. It can deprive older adults of their life savings in whole or in part, devastate their financial security, and cause other harm. In the joint statement made on December 4, 2024, the agencies provide information and examples of risk management and other practices that supervised institutions could consider adopting to combat elder financial exploitation. By issuing the joint statement, the agencies intend to raise supervised institutions’ awareness of, and provide strategies for, addressing elder financial exploitation.

Audience: This session is ideal for BSA, compliance, complaint management, deposit and loan operations, branch staff, training, and all customer service personnel.

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

Bank of America Private Bank Market Minute

Last Tuesday marked the end of an impressive year for U.S. Equities. The S&P 500 gained 23.3% in 2024, managing 57 all-time highs and a second straight year of 20%+ returns for the first time since the late 1990s. Outperformance of the Magnificent 7 0F 1led the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 28.6% for the year, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12.9%. Communication Services and Technology emerged as the top performing sectors in the S&P 500 for the second year in a row, though 10 out of 11 sectors ended in the green in 2024 with Consumer Discretionary and Financials each gaining nearly 30% over the year. Still, despite relatively better breadth in the second half of the year, the S&P 500 outshined its equal-weighted counterpart which finished the year up 10.9%. The Russell 2000 Index similarly gained 10.0%. A volatile year for U.S. Treasurys concluded with the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury at 4.6%, about 70 basis points (bps) higher than the year’s start and nearly 100 bps above September’s low. Gold prices finished 2024 off its October highs but rose 27.2% for the year, its best annual showing since 2010.

Morris Nichols Names William Michelson Chief Financial Officer

Morris Nichols is pleased to announce that William P. Michelson, CPA has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer, effective January 1, 2025. Will joined Morris Nichols in 2013, and most-recently held the position of Director of Finance, working closely with firm leadership to develop and execute financial and strategic objectives.

“Will has been a valued Morris Nichols team member for 10 years now,” said Bill Lafferty, chair of the firm’s executive committee, “and a key contributor to the firm’s success and growth. Having worked together on various strategic firm initiatives, I know first-hand that this promotion to CFO is well-deserved.”

Potter Anderson Elects Callan R. Jackson and Daniel M. Rusk IV to Firm Partnership

Callan R. Jackson

Daniel M. Rusk IV

Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP (Potter Anderson) is pleased to announce that attorneys Callan R. Jackson and Daniel M. Rusk IV have been elected to the firm’s partnership, effective Jan. 1.

“We are extremely proud of Callan and Daniel’s work and accomplishments for our clients and our firm, particularly in the litigation arena in Delaware,” said Potter Anderson Chair Peter J. Walsh, Jr. “Our firm congratulates them both on their well-deserved promotion to partnership.”

A member of the firm’s Corporate Litigation Group, Jackson focuses her practice on corporate and commercial litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery, representing clients in contested director elections, dissolution proceedings, and high-stakes litigation.

Rusk also is a member of the Corporate Litigation Group. He focuses his practice primarily on corporate and commercial litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery, including breach of fiduciary duty actions, busted deal litigation, breach of contract claims, alternative entity litigation, and statutory proceedings under the Delaware General Corporation Law.

Troutman Pepper Locke Officially Launches

 Troutman Pepper and Locke Lord have merged to form Troutman Pepper Locke LLP, a law firm with more than 1,600 attorneys across 33 offices in the United States and Europe.

“This merger is a strategic leap forward, allowing us to offer an even broader and deeper suite of services to help clients solve complex legal challenges,” said Tom Cole, chair of Troutman Pepper Locke. “The increased scale strengthens our ability to handle matters across an expanded geographic footprint and underscores our continued commitment to client service, efficiency and innovation.”



With a significant presence in 10 of the largest U.S. legal markets, the merger positions Troutman Pepper Locke as a full-service firm in a number of important industries at the frontlines of change, including energy, financial services, health care and life sciences, insurance and reinsurance, private equity, and real estate. Clients will benefit from enhanced capabilities across the spectrum of legal services including but not limited to transactional, regulatory, intellectual property, and litigation.