Fidelity D & D Bancorp (FDBC) Risk Analysis

The Company, primarily through the Bank, is subject to extensive federal and state regulation and supervision. Banking regulations are primarily intended to protect depositors' funds, federal deposit insurance funds and the banking system as a whole, not shareholders. These regulations affect the Company's lending practices, capital structure, investment practices, dividend policy and growth, among other things. Federal or commonwealth regulatory agencies continually review banking laws, regulations and policies for possible changes. Changes to statutes, regulations or regulatory policies, including changes in interpretation or implementation of statutes, regulations or policies, could affect the Company in substantial and unpredictable ways. Such changes could subject the Company to additional costs, limit the types of financial services and products the Company may offer and/or increase the ability of non-banks to offer competing financial services and products, among other things. Failure to comply with laws, regulations or policies could result in sanctions by regulatory agencies, civil money penalties and/or reputation damage, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. While the Company has policies and procedures designed to prevent any such violations, there can be no assurance that such violations will not occur.

There has been a marked increase in the use of social media platforms, including weblogs (blogs), social media websites, and other forms of Internet-based communications which allow individuals access to a broad audience of consumers and other interested persons. Social media practices in the banking industry are evolving, which creates uncertainty and risk of noncompliance with regulations applicable to our business. Consumers value readily available information concerning businesses and their goods and services and often act on such information without further investigation and without regard to its accuracy. Many social media platforms immediately publish the content their subscribers and participants post, often without filters or checks on accuracy of the content posted. Information posted on such platforms at any time may be adverse to our interests and/or may be inaccurate. The dissemination of information online could harm our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations, regardless of the information's accuracy. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. Other risks associated with the use of social media include improper disclosure of proprietary information, negative comments about our business, exposure of personally identifiable information, fraud, out-of-date information, and improper use by employees and customers. The inappropriate use of social media by our customers or employees could result in negative consequences including remediation costs including training for employees, additional regulatory scrutiny and possible regulatory penalties, litigation or negative publicity that could damage our reputation adversely affecting customer or investor confidence.

The Company may incorporate AI solutions into platforms that deliver products and services to its customers, including solutions developed by third parties whose AI is integrated into its products and services. Its business could be harmed and the Company may be exposed to legal liability and reputational risk if the AI the Company uses is or is alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, or biased because the AI algorithms are flawed, insufficient, of poor quality, or reflect unwanted forms of bias, particularly if third party AI integrated with its platforms produces false or "hallucinatory" inferences. Data practices by the Company or others that result in controversy could impair the acceptance of AI, which could undermine the decisions, predictions, or analysis that AI applications produce.  Its customers and potential customers may express adverse opinions concerning its use of AI and machine learning that could result in brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, or legal liability. If the Company develops Generative AI, its content creation may require additional investment as testing for bias, accuracy and unintended, harmful impact is often complex and may be costly. As a result, the Company may need to increase the cost of its products and services which may make it less competitive, particularly if its competitors incorporate AI more quickly or successfully. Governmental bodies have implemented laws and are considering further regulation of AI (including machine learning), which could negatively impact its ability to use and develop AI. The Company is unable to predict how application of existing laws, including federal and state privacy and data protection laws, and adoption of new laws and regulations applicable to AI will affect it but it is likely that compliance with such laws and regulations will increase its compliance costs and such increase may be substantial and adversely affect its results of operations. Furthermore, its use of Generative AI and other forms of AI may expose us to risks relating to intellectual property ownership and licensing rights, including copyright of Generative AI and other AI output as these issues have not been fully interpreted by federal courts or been fully addressed by federal or state legislation or regulations.

Inflation, both in the short-term and/or in the long-term, may adversely affect the Company's business in that it may increase our overall costs even if it does not adversely affect every aspect of our business evenly. The Company employs various strategies to manage its costs but there is no assurance that these strategies will be successful in containing costs as higher rates of inflation may result in increased costs for goods and services, including employee salaries and benefits, which may adversely affect the Company's results of operation and financial performance. Inflation may also increase the cost of doing business for the Company's borrowers thereby affecting the creditworthiness of current or prospective customers.

The commercial real estate market nationally, regionally, and locally has recently been subject to increased levels of volatility.  Many believe that commercial real estate in the commercial office sector is undergoing a fundamental transformation and change that started during the recent pandemic but also continues due to evolving workplace environments.  These changes in the marketplace affect the demand for commercial office space which in turn may affect the credit status, profitability, and collectability, of existing and future commercial real estate office sector loans.  As explained above in greater detail in the risk factor for Lending Risk, volatility and increases in non-performing loans could have an adverse impact on the Company's financial condition and results of operations.