DBA Digest for June 13, 2025

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The summer season is upon us. Festivals and county fairs, fireworks and friends around the barbecue. Even as we work to finalize a state budget, as tariff uncertainties (dare I say “flip-flops”?) continue to swirl, as the digital currencies debate extends, our mental baseline accommodates beach scenes and breathing room for lingering with friends. I’d argue that’s a very healthy state of being, and one we could draw upon throughout the year for oft-needed resilience.

On the more serious, intellectually challenging side, we’ve got this Sunday, June 15^th, for example: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), a day dedicated to raising awareness across the globe about the abuse, neglect, and exploitation that many older adults face. We in the financial industry could not be more keen to this challenge, and we are also among the best positioned to spot, mitigate, and manage this kind of fraud. And it couldn’t be more important that we continue to innovate and layer on additional ways to do so, given the dual dynamics of the population shift towards greater numbers of people aged 60 and older and the silver tsunami wealth transition.

We’ve got the ice cream and parades kind of events too, thankfully: the Mayoral Luncheon on Monday, June 16^th, and the Legislative Hall picnic at the close of session on June 30^th. I’d add the DBA’s first board meeting under my tenure on June 24^th, more (in this social context) for the post-meeting luncheon I’m hosting afterwards to gain live feedback on what our members most value from the DBA and what industry topics are most top of mind for you, input I’m eager to hear from all our members, associate members, public and private sector partners anytime. And after the fanfare of the 4^th of July holiday and weekend, there’s our joint ABA/SBA/DBA Women Lead event on July 17^th and the DBA Kids’ Day at the Delaware State Fair on July 22^nd. If you need more info on either of those, please reach out.

There are so many more great substantive and social events on the upcoming calendar. I hope you’ll share with us additional items we can include in future issues.

The Delaware Council on Banking New Funding Opportunity Ends June 16th

The Delaware Community Investment Venture Fund (DCIVF), which is administered by the Delaware Council on Banking, provides funding opportunities for banking organizations, credit unions, and Community Development Financial Institutions doing business in Delaware to better serve the needs of low- to moderate-income census tracts within the state. Applications must be completed and submitted to the Delaware Council on Banking on or before 5:00 p.m. on June 16, 2025.

Banks, credit unions, and CDFIs properly registered and authorized to conduct business in the State of Delaware may apply for one or more grants to support proposed programs that: 

1. invest in the development of financial product or financial product underwriting innovations that will enhance access to capital, funding, and other financial services for businesses in low- to moderate-income tracts in Delaware;
2. deploy, test, and evaluate these innovations for providing capital and funding to businesses in low- to moderate-income tracts in Delaware; and
3. promote and make these innovations available to a variety of banking organizations, Community Development Financial Institutions, and credit unions for use in enhancing access to capital, funding, and other financial services for businesses in low- to moderate-income tracts in Delaware.

If you have any questions, please email DCIVF@delaware.gov. 

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day - June 15th

June 15th is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. The financial services industry is committed to preventing elder financial exploitation (EFE), the improper use of an older person's funds, property, or assets.  The American Bankers Association has resources to train bank personnel on how to detect, prevent and report elder financial exploitation. These include an EFE topic page, training course, tips, and other valuable resources. Visit the ABA's elder protection page via the link below.

Pathways to Housing Affordability: Preservation Strategies to Strengthen Workforce Communities - June 26

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia invites you to join us for the Preservation Strategies to Strengthen Workforce Communities event, which is being held in partnership with the Delaware State Housing Authority and New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.

Pathways to Housing Affordability Series

Part 2: Preservation Strategies to Strengthen Workforce Communities

When: June 26, 2025, 9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. 

Where: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Participation is free, but registration is required. This event is being held in person at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. A virtual option is available for the sessions from 10:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. only. 

Seating is limited, so please register now to reserve your space. 

Virtual Event! ABA Women Lead Symposium - July 17th!

Don't miss the Women Lead Symposium, July 17, a convenient virtual program

designed to help emerging leaders and seasoned professionals become successful leaders.

This joint effort between the American Bankers Association, the Delaware Bankers Association, and other state bankers associations will help you gain critical leadership skills that will support your bank’s growth goals and advance your career. You’ll learn leading practices and actionable insights to navigate key positions at your bank and foster workforce excellence. You’ll walk away with leadership resources and a strong professional network!

See the full agenda and registration information via the link below!

2025 Delaware Trust Conference - October 28 & 29 - Sponsorships Now Available!

Sponsorships and exhibitor spaces are now available for the 2025 Delaware Trust Conference, to be held October 28th and 29th at the Chase Center on the Riverfront and Live Stream. Join Platinum Sponsor, The Bryn Mawr Trust Company of Delaware (a WSFS Company); Diamond Sponsors, Gordon, Fournaris & Mammarella, P.A.; McCollom D'Emilio Smith Uebler LLC, and Gold Sponsor, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnel LLP, at this prestigious event. Full agenda and early-bird registration information is coming soon!

Don't Miss These Upcoming OnCourse Learning Webinars!

Responsibilities of the Information Security Officer - June 17th

Being an information security officer (or a similar role) is a big responsibility in today’s world of cyber threats and data breaches. This presentation is for those who are new to the ISO (or similar) role or have been the ISO for some time but want to review what is expected and how to be successful.

Audience: This session is ideal for IT and IS professionals who need to understand the strategic makeup of their IT team.

Components of a Valuable Incident Response Plan - June 23rd

In today’s cybersecurity world, we can’t afford to assume that our business will never be compromised. Organizations must properly invest in cybersecurity - not only in preventing cyber attacks, but also in the ability to detect and response to today’s cyber threats. With cyber attacks on the rise, it’s time to sharpen your response procedures and improve your Incident Response Plan (IRP).

Audience: This session is ideal for IT and IS professionals who need to understand the strategic and regulatory aspects of cybersecurity to better support their organization's goals. 



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

Nine Connolly Gallagher Attorneys Recognized in 2025 USA Guide by Chambers & Partners

Connolly Gallagher is proud to announce the ranking of nine of our attorneys and three of our practice groups in the 2025 USA Guide by Chambers & Partners. This honor is especially meaningful to us because it involves an independent review process including written submissions and interviews, as well as feedback provided directly to the publication by our peers and clients. We’re thankful for the recognition and look forward to continuing to support our clients.

Chancery: Hank Gallagher Jr.; Shaun Michael Kelly; Jarrett Horowitz

Intellectual Property: Arthur Connolly III; Alan Silverstein

Labor & Employment: Timothy Holly; Aaron Shapiro; Matthew Boyer; Lauren DeLuca

Richards, Layton & Finger highly ranked in The Legal 500’s 2025 national rankings in M&A Delaware Counsel and in M&A Litigation: Defense

Richards, Layton & Finger is highly ranked in two categories in The Legal 500’s 2025 national rankings: tier 1 in M&A Delaware Counsel and tier 2 in M&A Litigation: Defense. Firm directors Rudolf Koch and Blake Rohrbacher are ranked as Leading Partners in M&A Litigation, and Srinivas Raju is a Leading Partner in the Delaware Counsel category. The Legal 500 also recognizes firm directors Raymond DiCamillo and Matthew Murphy as key lawyers in M&A Litigation, and Doneene Damon, Mark Gentile, Stephanie Norman, Nate Stuhlmiller, and John Mark Zeberkiewicz as key lawyers in Delaware Counsel.

Plan for Unplanned CEO Transitions

By: Alan J. Kaplan

Since the founding of our firm over 30 years ago, we’ve been fortunate to assist clients with more than 100 president or CEO succession projects across the financial services landscape. When reviewing these successful assignments with an eye towards common themes, I was struck by the number of leadership transitions that occurred unexpectedly. While the frequency of unplanned changes at the top of the house truly surprised me, the causes of these unexpected changes varied widely, including:

● Surprise or early retirement.

● Resignation for personal or family reasons.

● Termination for poor performance.

● Termination for inappropriate behavior.

● Being nudged out by the board after staying too long without a plan.

● Death or serious illness.

Podcast: Facial Recognition and Legal Boundaries: The Clearview AI Case Study

In this episode of the Regulatory Oversight podcast, Stephen Piepgrass welcomes David Navetta, Lauren Geiser, and Dan Waltz to discuss the $51.75 million nationwide class settlement involving Clearview AI and its broader implications. The conversation focuses on Clearview AI's facial recognition software, which has sparked controversy due to its use of publicly available images to generate biometric data.

The discussion begins with an overview of the facial recognition software, followed by an analysis of alleged privacy law violations, particularly concerning the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).

Bank of America Private Bank Market Minute

Last Friday, the S&P 500 closed above the 6,000 threshold for the first time since February 21, just 41 trading days after the index’s sub 5,000 low on April 8. The index gained 1.5% last week with the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average also up 2.2% and 1.2% respectively. The Russell 2000 gained 3.2% over the week, outperforming its Large-cap counterpart but remaining 12.7% off its November 2024 high as of Friday’s close. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury soared nearly 12 basis points on last Friday alone to finish the week at 4.51%. The catalyst was May’s jobs report, which showed that 139,000 jobs were added over the month, beating expectations of 126,000. Still, the prior two months’ nonfarm payroll readings were revised downward by a combined 95,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 4.2% in May, aided by the labor force participation rate slipping from 62.6% to 62.4%. Job openings rose unexpectedly from a revised 7.2 million (M) to 7.391M in April per the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.