About Us
Panel member
in the spotlight
Arabella Bennett
BA, LLB, LLM (cum laude) (UCT)
Retirement Fund Law, Banking & Finance, Financial Services Regulation, Cross-border Transactions, Insurance Law
Admitted as attorney in 2002
Previously at Bissets and ENSafrica
Structuring, negotiating and implementing complex liability-driven investments for retirement funds is where Arabella has built her reputation.
A leading financial services regulatory lawyer, she’s led the legal work on a number of SA firsts: from one of the country’s biggest bond and swap transactions to some of the earliest e-wallet and store credit card implementations. Having worked in the private sector and for various parastatals, she’s also structured an impressive number of high-value cross-border transactions over her 20-year legal career.
Arabella’s combination of regulatory knowledge and commercial insight make her an astute advisor on any regulatory financial matter and a creative thinking partner on complex, not-been-done-before deals.
“I was fortunate to learn very early in my career that the best thing you can do in any challenging situation is talk to the people involved. Talk to them as face-to-face as you can in 2024. That’s how problems are understood and solved. Even with complex, high-value finance deals, success comes down to people and the rapport you are able to build.”
- ARABELLA BENNETT
Based on Arabella’s experience she assists clients with
- Banking and finance transactions, including cross-border transaction.
- Hedging transactions for funders and sponsors of sustainable energy projects.
- Regulatory, governance and investment-related advice for pension and retirement funds, including Regulation 28 advice.
- Forensic investigations into retirement fund management and assets.
- Drafting legal opinions on financial sector matters.
- Liability-driven investment structures (cash flow matching transactions) for retirement funds and product providers.
- Limited liability private equity structures and linked insurance product advice, including transactional and regulatory advice.
- Advice and regulatory compliance between South Africa and Namibia on asset management, insurance and pension matters.
- Advising private institutions and government entities on financial products, services and product arrangements.