Richard P. Eckman

Rick is a fellow of The Pepper Center for Public Service. The Pepper Center draws on the talents of the firm’s retired partners and senior attorneys to wrestle with tough problems facing our communities. Through the Center, these attorneys study, analyze, and work to resolve problems that affect the lives of people in our communities.

Before retiring, Rick represented financial institutions and non-regulated entities in a range of matters involving investment management, commercial and consumer financial services, public finance and trusts. Drawing upon many years of experience inside the banking industry and involvement in drafting key banking regulations, he is a trusted advisor on operational and regulatory issues.

Rick also had an active practice representing non-depository institutions, specialty finance companies, and service providers in compliance matters, payment system issues, strategic transactions, government investigation and enforcement actions. In addition, he advised marketplace lenders on matters such as merchant cash advance and co-branding relationships and represents a number of institutional trustees in Delaware business trust transactions.

Rick advised clients on payment issues including dealing with FinCEN and state money transmitter statutes. He also helped nonbank lenders and their service providers to design and launch national online lending platforms and businesses.

An active speaker and writer on the activities of state and federal banking regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rick was one of the drafters of Delaware’s landmark Financial Center Development Act that attracted more than 25 financial institutions to the state.

He was a founder of and vice president and general counsel for The Chase Manhattan Bank (USA), N.A.; and was a director and secretary of FCC National Bank, the national bank subsidiary of Bank One Corporation now part of JPMorgan Chase. He also was counsel to the Bank of Delaware, now PNC Bank. Earlier in his career, he was active in politics, serving as campaign manager for Pete duPont’s 1976 successful gubernatorial campaign, and was legislative counsel in the Washington office of Congressman Thomas B. Evans, Jr. (R – Delaware) from 1977-1979.