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David Monteiro

Partner, Banking, Payments and Fintech at Sidley Austin LLP

Dallas, Texas, USA

DM
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Why they matter

A former FTC enforcer turned top bank/fintech regulatory counsel, he can give a deal team a fast, credible read on CFPB, OCC, and state debanking exposure in a payments target.

Background

David I. Monteiro is a Partner in Sidley Austin's Banking, Payments and Fintech practice in Dallas, joining in May 2025 after more than a decade at Morgan Lewis & Bockius, where he served as the Dallas office's managing partner. A former FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection enforcement attorney and Fifth Circuit law clerk, he advises banks, broker-dealers, fintechs, and their investors and lenders on consumer-protection compliance, UDAAP, fair lending, and high-stakes regulatory investigations.

Notable deals

  • 2025
    Recruited by Sidley Austin as a partner in its Banking, Payments and Fintech practice after 10+ years at Morgan Lewis, where he was Dallas office managing partner
  • 2025
    Named Sidley contact on client alert analyzing Trump's 'Fair Banking' executive order and its debanking remediation mandates for regulators and banks
  • 2026
    Spoke on 'Payments of the Future' panel co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and SMU Science & Technology Law Review
  • 2026
    Presenting 'Debunking Debanking Risks' at the American Bankers Association's Annual Risk and Compliance Conference

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Partner, Banking, Payments and Fintech, Sidley Austin (Dallas), since May 2025
  • Previously 10+ years at Morgan Lewis, most recently as Dallas office managing partner
  • Former enforcement attorney, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Financial Practices
  • Clerked for Judge Catharina Haynes, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (2009-2011)
  • J.D. Georgetown (2007, magna cum laude); A.B. Harvard (2004, cum laude)

Current focus

  • Advises banks, broker-dealers, fintechs, and their investors/lenders on consumer-protection risk (UDAAP, fair lending, licensing/usury, disclosure)
  • Active on BNPL, crypto-backed lending, bank-partnership (rent-a-charter) arrangements, and the 2025-2026 'debanking' executive order fallout
  • Represents clients in CFPB/FTC/OCC/DOJ investigations, state AG enforcement, and FINRA/appellate litigation

What he cares about

  • Regulatory bifurcation as CFPB pulls back federally and states (esp. Texas) fill the gap
  • Distinguishing legitimate risk-based account decisions from unlawful debanking
  • Practical remediation program design under consent orders

Recent moves

  • Left a firm-leadership role at Morgan Lewis to build out Sidley's payments/fintech bench in Dallas, signals a bet on Sidley's fintech regulatory platform

Sensitivities

  • Client work is largely confidential regulatory defense; he will speak generally on regulatory trends but won't discuss specific client matters
  • Recently changed firms. Avoid questions that read as probing his book-of-business economics

Questions to ask

  1. With CFPB enforcement receding federally, which states (beyond Texas) are becoming the real enforcement risk for a payments/merchant-acquiring target?
  2. What diligence red flags does he see most often in bank-partnership/BaaS structures underlying payments platforms?
  3. How is the 'Fair Banking' executive order changing account-termination and reputation-risk practices banks apply to payments clients?

Outreach draft

Subject
Regulatory diligence call: payments sector
Hi David, I lead deal work on a payments and merchant-acquiring theme for a private equity investor, and your move to Sidley to build out the Banking, Payments and Fintech practice caught our attention, particularly your background at the FTC and your recent work on debanking and bank-partnership regulatory risk. We're doing diligence on several targets in this space and would value 20-30 minutes to get your read on the current CFPB/state enforcement landscape and where regulatory exposure tends to hide in payments platforms. Happy to work around your schedule. Would a short call sometime in the next couple of weeks work? Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

Sources