Banking & Finance

The global banking and finance industry is faced with increasing financial and regulatory pressures with new and more complex rules that you need to anticipate and take advantage of. 

For your cross-border business, you also face potentially conflicting market practices and rules, which present new opportunities. 

Whether you are a financial institution, corporate, asset manager, mutual fund or public entity, your business is only as good as the products and services you sell. That’s why we organise our teams along the business lines of your sector, giving us deep insight into the commercial and legal issues you face. 

From general corporate lending to acquisition and leveraged finance, capital markets, derivatives and securitisations to real estate finance and corporate recovery, we can help you achieve the best business outcome, both locally and across jurisdictions.

In South Africa, an environment where transactional work is becoming more challenging, lawyers' roles have needed to adapt to new circumstances:  

• deals are fewer and farther between
• the ability to meet transactional timelines has become more difficult as counterparties' risk appetite is changing
• the ability to implement transactions in line with tighter cost budgets 
   

What we offer 

Our cross-border transformed Banking & Finance teams brings a unique advantage to clients transacting across Africa: we are dual UK- and South African qualified lawyers in South Africa. This distinctive positioning enables us to deliver international – standard legal advice with deep local insight at competitive rates.  Renowned for our versatility and commercial agility, we simplify and drive transactions forward rather than hinder them.  Whether advising on multi-jurisdictional financings or large-scale projects, we are ideal legal partner for mandates of any size, scope or complexity.    

Our clients range from banks and other financial institutions, financial services providers, private equity investors and arrangers, from Small to Medium Enterprises to international corporations in South Africa and across Africa. 

Our dual qualified UK and South African law team in Johannesburg advises on the full range of banking law and finance services:
 

• acquisition finance 
• aviation finance 
• asset finance 
• asset management 
• capital markets and derivatives 
• collective investment schemes 
• commodity trade finance 
• compliance 
• debt structuring 
• debt restructuring, business rescue and insolvency 
• financial markets law and legislation including banking regulation 
• funds 
• general banking and investment structures 
• Islamic finance 
• lending and syndicated lending 
• leveraged finance 
• mining and resource finance 
• preference share finance 
• project and infrastructure finance 
• public-private partnerships 
• structuring and financing of BEE transactions 
• trade finance