DBA Digest for January 19, 2024

There's Still Time to Sponsor!

2024 DBA Washington Visit - March 6-8

Expanded Sponsorship opportunities are available through February 9th for the DBA Senior Executive Washington Visit, March 6 to 8. Sponsorship opportunities are open to all associate members who would like to participate in the event. Join these prestigious sponsors: Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, Richards Layton & Finger, Discover, RKL CPA, and S&P Global!

Sponsorship include opportunities for representatives from your ­firm to select to attend any of the following:

• Wednesday March 6th reception and dinner. 
• Thursday March 7th luncheon.
• Thursday March 7th evening reception. The evening reception will feature a new and engaging entertainment venue.

Take advantage of this unique networking opportunity to meet with top leaders in both the financial services and legislative realms. See the form below for full details and to reserve your organization’s place.

Fulton Financial Corporation Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2023 Results

Fulton Financial Corporation reported net income available to common shareholders of $61.7 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease of $7.8 million, or 11.3%, in comparison to the third quarter of 2023. Operating net income available to common shareholders for the three months ended December 31, 2023 was $68.8 million, or $0.42 per diluted share.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, net income available to common shareholders was $274.0 million, or $1.64 per diluted share, a decrease of $2.7 million, or 1.0%, in comparison to the same period in 2022. Operating net income available to common shareholders for the year-ended December 31, 2023 was $285.0 million, or $1.71 per diluted share.

Wilmington University Micro-Credentials: Advance Your Skills and Earn Academic Credit!

Gain industry skills and turn your passion into academic credit with a micro-credential from Wilmington University (WilmU). WilmU has a catalog of micro-credential course offerings available to Delaware Bankers Association and Delaware Financial Education Association members that help to advance your skills and earn academic credit. Offered in convenient formats and coupled with comprehensive support, these courses are led by companies such as Google, IBM and Meta. During checkout, use the special discount code 2324DEBA to receive $100 off your six-month access subscription. To learn more, visit wilmu.edu/Partnerships/DEBankers.

Ask the Fed®: Novel Activities Supervision Program

The Federal Reserve's Novel Activities Supervision Program enhances the supervision of novel activities conducted by banking organizations supervised by the Federal Reserve. The Program focuses on novel activities related to crypto-assets, distributed ledger technology (DLT), and complex, technology-driven partnerships with nonbanks to deliver financial services to customers. 

Please join us on Wednesday, February 7, 2:00 p.m., for this Ask the Fed® session with Program Co-chairs Kavita Jain, Associate Director, Novel Activities and Innovation Policy of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and Kristin LaPorte, Vice President of National Programs of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The presenters will provide an overview of the Program, discuss the scope of the Program, explain its supervisory approach and partnership with traditional supervisory teams, and hold a Q&A.

Note: this session is only open to members of Financial Institutions. 

Michael Gordon Presents at 2024 Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning

On Thursday, January 11, 2024 Michael Gordon, of Gordon, Fournaris & Mammarella, P.A., presented at 58^th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning in Orlando, Florida. Michael’s presentation titled “Slicing and Dicing Fiduciary Duties and Responsibilities Through Directed Trusts” discussed the rise of popularity in directed trusts and how directed trusts can be used to achieve certain tax benefits. Michael also participated on the panel titled “Simplifying the Complex: Demystifying Directed Trusts, Family Offices and Private Trust Companies.” The Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning is the nation’s premier educational conference for attorneys, trust officers, accountants and more during which the highest quality educational programming is provided.

Whisman Giordano & Associates, LLC

Surpasses 50 Acts of Kindness Goal

Whisman Giordano & Associates, LLC (WGA), announced in 2023 their 50 Acts of Kindness initiative. The goal was to complete the 50 Acts of Kindness by the year’s close to celebrate their 50^th Anniversary and say “thank you” to the community. WGA is honored to announce that the team exceeded that goal and completed 65 Acts of Kindness.

The Acts completed by the team reached seven different States in-person and virtually as far as Hawaii. The broad range of causes highlighted the team's diverse interests, such as food insecurity, the environment, community health, veterans’ issues, animal welfare, education, blood donation, and more. Some Acts were completed as a firm, but some were personal causes that the firm supported. The list may be seen on the Whisman Giordano website, https://www.whismangiordano.com/50-acts-of-kindness/.

Morris James Promotes Ryan Keating to Counsel

Morris James is pleased to announce the promotion of Ryan Keating to Counsel in the firm's Medical Malpractice group. The firm congratulates Ryan on this well-deserved promotion and looks forward to his ongoing success. 

Ryan is an experienced and skilled medical malpractice attorney, focusing exclusively on complex cases involving catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. He represents injured individuals in the states of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. 

CFPB Continues Focus on Consumer Reporting and the FCRA With New “Guidance” on Background Checks and Consumer Disclosures

On January 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued two “advisory opinions” addressing the CFPB’s views of the obligations of consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The advisory opinions are interpretive rules issued under the Bureau’s authority to interpret the FCRA pursuant to § 1022(b)(1) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.

First, the CFPB advised that in order to assure “maximum possible accuracy” under § 607(b) of the FCRA, a CRA that provides background check reports must have procedures in place that: (1) prevent reporting public record information that is duplicative or that has been expunged, sealed, or otherwise legally restricted from public access; and (2) include any existing disposition information if it reports arrests, criminal charges, eviction proceedings, or other court filings.