DBA Digest for May 9, 2025

DBA 130th Annual Meeting & Dinner, May 15th! Last Call for Registrations!

There's still time to register for the Delaware Bankers Association's 130th Annual Meeting and Dinner, May 15th, at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington. The evening will feature special appreciations to outgoing DBA President Sarah Long, and former Senator Tom Carper, a conversation with incoming DBA President, Karyn Polak, and more!

Thank you to our sponsors: Belfint Lyons Shuman; Delaware Community Foundation; The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh; Fulton Bank; McCollom D'Emilio Smith Uebler; Pinion; Potter Anderson Corroon; Richards Layton Finger; Santora CPA Group; Troutman Pepper Locke; Visa U.S.A., Inc.; Weiner Benefits Group; Wilmington Trust, and, Young Conaway!

And Bank Table Sponsors: Bank of America; Barclays; Capital One; Comenity Bank; Commonwealth Trust Company; County Bank; Discover Bank; First Citizens Community Bank; JPMorgan Chase, M&T Bank; PNC Bank; Sallie Mae; US Trust Company of Delaware; Wilmington Trust; and, WSFS Bank!

Don't Miss These Upcoming OnCourse Learning Webinars!

BSA Referrals: Getting Your Staff Involved - May 13th

If you see it, refer it! Today we need all business lines to refer red flags and alerts to BSA/AML Departments. The red flags for each area need to be addressed in training and a referral form developed for those areas. During this program, we will look at red flags you need to discuss with each department and develop a referral for the various high-risk areas of the financial institution. We will provide referral forms for various areas and help you refine them for your own institution.

Audience: This session is ideal for AML/BSA officers and staff, training, human resources, compliance, and operations.

Reg CC Changes Approaching July 1! Are You Ready? - May 20th

If you missed last year’s program about updating your numbers, policies and procedures for Reg CC’s new numbers, you will not want to miss this program about upcoming changes. This includes a new Reg CC Handbook to train your staff and all updated numbers and examples. This regulation is still one of the hardest to comply with and continues to baffle and confuse many. During this program, we will review the components of the regulation and get you ready for July 1 deadline.

Audience: Compliance Officers, Deposit Operations, Teller Managers, Head Tellers, Training and Management will all benefit from this session.

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

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!

Bank of America Private Bank - Market Minute

Last Friday marked the S&P 500’s ninth straight trading day of gains, the longest streak of daily advances since November 2004. The benchmark’s 2.9% gain last week was mirrored across major U.S. Equity indexes with the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average up 3.4% and 3.0% respectively. After tumbling 12% between April 2 “Liberation Day” and its low on April 8, the S&P 500 closed April down less than 1% and trimmed its year-to-date losses to 3.3%. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell to 22.7 at last Friday’s close, the lowest level since April 2. In a busy week of U.S. economic data, the first estimate of Q1 2025 real gross domestic product (GDP) growth registered at -0.3%, the first contraction since Q1 2022 amid a surge in imports. Still, real final sales to private domestic purchasers rose at a healthy annual rate of 3% for the quarter, above 2.9% in Q4 2024. 177,000 jobs were added in April, stronger than consensus expectations at 138,000 while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. Job openings slipped from 7.48 million to 7.19 million in March, the lowest level since September 2023.

2025 AHP and Voluntary Housing Grant Initiative Webinar

The 2025 Affordable Housing Program (AHP) Fundamentals and Voluntary Housing Grant Initiative Webinar is now available online. This webinar provides a detailed discussion of the AHP and the voluntary housing grant initiative process, including key scoring and feasibility factors.

The AHP and voluntary housing grant initiative funding round will open June 26, 2025, with approximately $57.5 million and $17.0 million in available funding, respectively. Applications are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Aug. 7, and awards will be announced Dec. 11.

Applicants may request up to $1,500,000 per project, $150,000 per unit in funding by submitting an application through AHP Online. Applications that are not awarded under AHP and are located in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will be automatically enrolled in the voluntary housing grant initiative pool for consideration. 

Monthly Market Insights - May 2025

In the month ahead, three events may influence the financial markets: the Fed’s next meeting, quarterly corporate reports, and inflation data. The Fed’s meeting ends on May 7, and the markets will be looking for any update on short-term rates. Fed Chair Powell has indicated the central bank could find itself in a dilemma between managing inflation and supporting economic growth.

The peak period for first-quarter corporate reports ends mid-May, and investors are anticipating more CEOs will provide outlooks for 2025 and into 2026. Finally, the markets will get an update on consumer inflation on May 13, which reflects data from April. Investors will be looking to see if tariffs had any impact on the April numbers.

Volunteers Needed: 2025 Making Strides Delaware!

Volunteer opportunities are now open for the 2025 Delaware Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, October 26th, 8:30 a.m. to Noon, Bellevue State Park. Walkers, Sponsors, and Volunteers are needed. The American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is the largest network of breast cancer events in the nation, raising money to help the American Cancer Society fund groundbreaking breast cancer research and

provide patient services like free rides to treatment, free places to stay when treatment is far from home, a live 24/7 helpline, and more.

Regulatory Oversight Podcast: State AI Legislation

Join us for a special crossover episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast and Regulatory Oversight, where Chris Willis, Kim Phan, and Gene Fishel delve into the evolving world of state AI legislation. As AI becomes a pivotal tool in the financial services industry, understanding the implications of new laws is crucial. This episode focuses on Colorado’s comprehensive AI law and its potential influence on other states, exploring key issues such as algorithmic discrimination, privacy, and cybersecurity. Gain insights into best practices for compliance and learn how state attorneys general are stepping up enforcement in the absence of federal action. Don’t miss this informative discussion bridging consumer finance and regulatory oversight.

Webinar: What is Happening at the Federal Agencies (Other Than the CFPB) That is Relevant to the Consumer Financial Services Industry? - May 13th - Noon to 1:30 p.m.

We recently produced a webinar titled “CFPB Developments: Everything You Want to Know About the CFPB as Things Stand Today.” During that webinar, we touched upon the post-inauguration impact on federal agencies other than the CFPB that regulate, supervise and enforce federal laws against banks and non-banks pertaining to consumer financial services.  During this webinar, we will tell you everything you need to know about developments at those other agencies, including the FTC, OCC, FDIC, FRB, FCC, DOJ, ED, and DOD (collectively, the “Agencies”) and the White House (through the issuance of Executive Orders).

Learn More About Delaware EARNS - May 12th

On Monday, May 12, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Delaware employers are invited to attend an in-person educational event about Delaware EARNS. There will be a panel discussion featuring Treasurer Davis, Dorsey, State Rep. Larry Lambert, and Troy Farmer, program manager for the State Small Business Credit Initiative. Their combined perspectives will provide additional clarity on how employers and employees alike stand to gain value from participating in EARNS.