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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