Webber Wentzel outperforms SA colleagues in fintech

Dawid de Villiers and Christoff Pienaar.

Webber Wentzel is proud to have been named by Chambers Legal as a ‘Band 1’ firm in fintech legal advice, with two of its partners, Christoff Pienaar and Dawid de Villiers, ranked in Band 1 and Band 2 respectively. The firm is the only South African entity ranked in Band 1 for fintech this year.

Chambers Legal ranks firms and individuals on a scale of one to six, based on the excellence of their technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial acumen, diligence, commitment and other qualities highly valued by clients. All six rankings are highly sought after.

“We are proud and delighted to have been recognized again by Chambers Legal for outstanding work,” said Webber Wentzel senior partner Christo Els. “This is the result of many hours of hard and diligent work for our clients by all members of our fintech team.

“These rankings are particularly relevant at a time when South Africa is becoming known for its innovation in fintech products and both national and global legislation affecting the sector is rapidly evolving,” he said.

Webber Wentzel has become a “one-stop shop” for fintech companies because it combines strong sector knowledge and specialist expertise with established relationships with regulators, banks, insurers, funds and infrastructure and service providers, as well as connections to the sub-Saharan Africa technology start-up community. The fintech team is renowned for its ability to assist a wide range of clients, from blue chip companies to start-ups, in both local and international jurisdictions.

De Villiers and Pienaar are co-heads of the Webber Wentzel fintech team, with Pienaar joining the firm in April 2022 from CDH, where he was director and head of the Telecommunications Media and Technology (TMT) Practice, as well as sector head of financial institutions , financial services and fintech.

De Villiers, who specializes in all aspects of financial services law, can advise on laws and regulations relating to banking, stock exchanges and securities, money laundering and anti-corruption, mutual funds and collective investment schemes, asset management and securities lending. He has been named by Legal 500 2021 as a legal expert and was a ranked lawyer in Chambers Global 2022 as well as in Chambers Fintech.

Pienaar is dual qualified in South Africa and England and Wales. He leads the work on a number of fintech cases, with a focus on technology, commercial and intellectual property law. He has particular expertise in advising on implementation of payment systems/products, acquisitions, software development and licensing, commercial JV arrangements, cloud-based arrangements, commercialization of intellectual property rights, agency and distribution agreements, technology transfers and general commercial contracts in fintech. sector.

He has also advised fintech investors and intellectual property owners on transactions involving the offshoring of their intangible assets.

Pienaar was named by Best Lawyers 2019-2023 as a leading person: Lawyer of the Year for Information Technology Law 2023 and was named by Chambers Global in 2018-2022 as a ranked lawyer.

Click here to see Chambers Legal rankings.