Melissa Baal Guidorizzi

Melissa Baal Guidorizzi brings significant consumer finance expertise to DWT's financial services practice. In addition to serving as a regulatory and litigation advisor both in private practice and in-house at a global financial institution, Melissa spent nearly a decade as senior counsel in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's enforcement division.

Melissa has built strong relationships with banks as well as payments and data companies that provide direct-to-consumer products and services. E-commerce companies that rely on consumer data to provide payment options need practical regulatory advice amid CFPB enforcement actions in these spaces, and Melissa's experience here is second to none. Having joined the CFPB just years after its inception, Melissa developed the bureau's supervision and enforcement priorities and policies related to credit cards, deposits and prepaid accounts, traditional and emerging payment systems, and remittances. She also shaped policymaking and regulations that impact cryptocurrency markets as well as more traditional frameworks, including TILA, EFTA, FCRA, and UDAAP prohibitions. Her government work placed her in a key position to cooperate with various federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Treasury and Justice departments, the FTC, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, and state attorneys general.

Melissa has counseled traditional financial institutions and emerging fintechs on compliance, litigation, government investigations, and enforcement actions by the CFPB, FTC, and other agencies. Before joining the CFPB, Melissa worked at Citigroup, advising on fintech product development and litigation risks. She has practiced at law firms in New York and Washington, D.C. She also served as COO of an East Coast nonprofit at a crucial time, rebuilding the organization during the financial crisis.