In the rapidly evolving financial services industry, banks increasingly rely on third parties for new technologies, tools and processes to stay ahead of the competition. But working with third parties introduces new risks and can increase existing risks for banks, who still have overall responsibility for regulatory compliance for themselves and third-party vendors. Joe outlines the issues and shares insights on how banks can mitigate and manage these third-party risks.

After the firmwide meeting in Boca Raton, Joe Silvia reflects on the value of bringing attorneys together for a weekend to connect in person, share knowledge and opportunities and get to know the people behind the emails and phone calls. The fall and spring meetings are vitally important to fostering the culture of collaboration and collegiality that makes Duane Morris such a wonderful place to practice law and serve clients.

On today's episode, special guest and Duane Morris Special Counsel Veronica Law sits down with Joe to talk about the big picture and the intricacies of commercial and industrial lending.

Joe Silvia reports on the American Bar Association Business Law Fall Meeting in Toronto, which he attended as chair of the Banking Law Committee and member of the Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity and Venture Capital and Consumer Financial Services committees. Not surprisingly, digital assets, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency are still the hottest of hot topics for legal professionals in business law from around the world.

Duane Morris Class Action Defense Group partner Alex Karasik joins Joe Silvia to discuss the wide range of class action risks that financial institutions face, including data privacy breaches, discrimination and harassment claims, wage-and-hour and employee classification and others, with millions and billions of dollars in settlements at stake. Additionally, Alex offers practical and strategic advice to help banks reduce the risk of facing these costly class action lawsuits.

Joe Silvia discusses the fundamentals of the Bank Secrecy Act, money laundering and what banks and financial institutions need for robust anti-money laundering compliance programs.

Joe Silvia explains the basics of the blockchain, how it works, how it's used and the current and potential legal issues it presents.

Joe Silvia explains what's different and special about bank mergers and acquisitions.