Adnaan Kariem

Executive Consultant

Dr Adnaan Kariem is an Executive Consultant in our Banking, Finance & Projects practice. He specialises in debt finance, project finance, investment management-related matters, and commercial law. His work includes structuring and negotiating complex financial transactions, drafting transaction documentation, and advising on associated regulatory requirements.

He advises lenders, borrowers, corporates, financial institutions and investment managers on funding structures, risk allocation and security arrangements across a broad range of transactions and industries. His experience spans debt finance, project finance, infrastructure development, investment management transactions, business acquisitions and disposals, and regulatory compliance. He also advises universities and public institutions on corporate, commercial, governance and finance transactions.

He is recognised for his strong technical expertise, commercial insight and academic depth, underpinned by his post graduate research in commercial law.

He has been recommended by Practical Law CompanyPLC Which Lawyer? for Finance and Banking and Best Lawyers for Banking and Finance Law. He is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society.

He is valued by clients for his ability to deliver practical, well-structured solutions to complex corporate, commercial and financing arrangements.

Adnaan Kariem

About Adnaan

Dr Adnaan has practised law for more than 27 years.

He obtained his doctoral degree in commercial law from the University of Cape Town in 2022. His research and thesis analyses secured loans in South African law and cession in securitatem debiti to secure the repayment of loans. 

He began his career as a Candidate Attorney at Hofmeyr Herbstein and Gihwala (now Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr) in 1998. He was promoted to Associate, then Senior Associate, and became a Director in 2005. He was a Director from 2005 to 2026, when he became an Executive Consultant at the firm.  

He has authored several articles over the years for the Business Day, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, Financier Worldwide, the Loan Market Association, Lexology, and the South African Law Journal.

Areas of expertise

Experience

  •  Acts for lenders and borrowers, and advises them as to funding structures, risks and security arrangements.
  •  Acts for financial services providers and advises them as to funding structures, risks, security arrangements, and related regulatory matters.
  •  Acts for parties in respect of project finance transactions in infrastructure development, covering the entire spectrum of transactions, including loan and security transactions, and commercial development transactions.
  •   Acts for companies in respect of business acquisition and disposal transactions.
  •   Acts for universities in respect of corporate, commercial, governance and finance transactions.

Recognition

  • Practical Law CompanyPLC Which Lawyer 2011 and 2012 recommended Dr Adnaan in Finance and Banking.
  • Best Lawyers, recommends Dr Adnaan in Banking and Finance Law.
  • Dr Adnaan is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society.

 

Credentials

Education

  • BA (Law), University of the Western Cape
  • LLB, University of the Western Cape
  • LLM (Commercial Law), University of Cape Town
  • PhD (Commercial Law), University of Cape Town 
  • Year of admission as an attorney: 1999

  • Registered with the Legal Practice Council

LANGUAGES

  • English

News

The forms of cession in security in South African law
Banking, Finance & Projects

The forms of cession in security in South African law

In South African law, the pledge and cession in securitatem debiti of rights can be based on either the pledge theory or the pactum fiduciae /outright cession theory.

The pari passu principle in loan transactions
Banking, Finance & Projects

The pari passu principle in loan transactions

An important, yet undervalued principle in loan transactions is the pari passu principle. The principle concerns the ranking of lenders’ claims and concomitant security rights in loan transactions....

The borrowing powers of universities
Banking, Finance & Projects

The borrowing powers of universities

In recent years, South African universities have increasingly been borrowing large sums of money to fund their major infrastructure projects or working capital requirements. In this...

Syndicated loans: The facility agent’s role
Banking, Finance & Projects

Syndicated loans: The facility agent’s role

A syndicated loan is a loan advanced by a number of lenders, on a proportionate basis, to a borrower. In this article, the core role of the facility agent (referred to as the agent)...

Cession in security: Identifying the most suitable basis
Banking, Finance & Projects

Cession in security: Identifying the most suitable basis

A borrower’s obligation to repay a loan can be secured using different forms of security rights and quasi-security rights, with some rights being asset backed and others not.

Cession in security: Avoiding pitfalls
Banking, Finance & Projects

Cession in security: Avoiding pitfalls

A cession in security of personal rights, designed to provide security to a cessionary (a lender) for the cedent’s (borrower’s) obligation to repay a loan, may ironically, expose the...

Cession in security: Casting the net too widely

Cession in security: Casting the net too widely

In previous articles an analysis of different aspects of the law of cession including its nature (both out-and-out cession and cession in security), a cessionary’s common law obligations,...

Cession in security: The real meaning of reversionary interest

Cession in security: The real meaning of reversionary interest

In previous articles, we discussed the nature of cession in security of personal rights, related matters and distinguished it from an out and out cession. It is often the case that...

Cession in security: Discretionary rights
Banking, Finance & Projects

Cession in security: Discretionary rights

A cessionary is often entitled to determine whether a cedent has complied with its obligations contained in a cession agreement. A clause of this nature is typically contained in a...

Cession in security: Notice to the debtor
Financial Services

Cession in security: Notice to the debtor

In previous articles we stated that in South African law, cession is a bilateral juristic act whereby by agreement, a cedent transfers its rights, because of an underlying causa, to...

Cession in security: A cessionary’s obligations
Banking, Finance & Projects

Cession in security: A cessionary’s obligations

In South African law, cession is a bilateral juristic act whereby by agreement, a cedent transfers its rights, because of an underlying causa , to a cessionary. There are two types...

The treatment of future financial commitments under the Public Finance Management Act: The Waymark Judgment
Banking, Finance & Projects

The treatment of future financial commitments under the Public Finance Management Act: The Waymark Judgment

The scope of a future financial commitment in s66 of the Public Finance Management Act, No 1 of 1999 (PFMA) incurred by PFMA entities is often the subject of much debate. Recently,...

The nature of cession in security
Banking, Finance & Projects

The nature of cession in security

The cession of incorporeal rights is a legal principle on which significant amounts of money are transacted in the South African market.

The scope of material adverse change and material adverse effect provisions in facility agreements
Banking, Finance & Projects

The scope of material adverse change and material adverse effect provisions in facility agreements

A facility agreement typically contains both a material adverse change (MAC) clause and a material adverse effect (MAE) clause, which entitle a lender to enforce repayment of a loan...

A fair price for pledged assets
Banking, Finance & Projects

A fair price for pledged assets

In a loan transaction, a lender often requires security for the borrower’s obligation to repay the loan.

The forms of cession in security in South African law
Banking, Finance & Projects

The forms of cession in security in South African law

In South African law, the pledge and cession in securitatem debiti of rights can be based on either the pledge theory or the pactum fiduciae /outright cession theory.

The pari passu principle in loan transactions
Banking, Finance & Projects

The pari passu principle in loan transactions

An important, yet undervalued principle in loan transactions is the pari passu principle. The principle concerns the ranking of lenders’ claims and concomitant security rights in loan transactions....

The borrowing powers of universities
Banking, Finance & Projects

The borrowing powers of universities

In recent years, South African universities have increasingly been borrowing large sums of money to fund their major infrastructure projects or working capital requirements. In this...

Syndicated loans: The facility agent’s role
Banking, Finance & Projects

Syndicated loans: The facility agent’s role

A syndicated loan is a loan advanced by a number of lenders, on a proportionate basis, to a borrower. In this article, the core role of the facility agent (referred to as the agent)...

Cession in security: Identifying the most suitable basis
Banking, Finance & Projects

Cession in security: Identifying the most suitable basis

A borrower’s obligation to repay a loan can be secured using different forms of security rights and quasi-security rights, with some rights being asset backed and others not.

Cession in security: Avoiding pitfalls
Banking, Finance & Projects

Cession in security: Avoiding pitfalls

A cession in security of personal rights, designed to provide security to a cessionary (a lender) for the cedent’s (borrower’s) obligation to repay a loan, may ironically, expose the...

Cession in security: Casting the net too widely

Cession in security: Casting the net too widely

In previous articles an analysis of different aspects of the law of cession including its nature (both out-and-out cession and cession in security), a cessionary’s common law obligations,...

Cession in security: The real meaning of reversionary interest

Cession in security: The real meaning of reversionary interest

In previous articles, we discussed the nature of cession in security of personal rights, related matters and distinguished it from an out and out cession. It is often the case that...

Cession in security: Discretionary rights
Banking, Finance & Projects

Cession in security: Discretionary rights

A cessionary is often entitled to determine whether a cedent has complied with its obligations contained in a cession agreement. A clause of this nature is typically contained in a...

Cession in security: Notice to the debtor
Financial Services

Cession in security: Notice to the debtor

In previous articles we stated that in South African law, cession is a bilateral juristic act whereby by agreement, a cedent transfers its rights, because of an underlying causa, to...

Cession in security: A cessionary’s obligations
Banking, Finance & Projects

Cession in security: A cessionary’s obligations

In South African law, cession is a bilateral juristic act whereby by agreement, a cedent transfers its rights, because of an underlying causa , to a cessionary. There are two types...

The treatment of future financial commitments under the Public Finance Management Act: The Waymark Judgment
Banking, Finance & Projects

The treatment of future financial commitments under the Public Finance Management Act: The Waymark Judgment

The scope of a future financial commitment in s66 of the Public Finance Management Act, No 1 of 1999 (PFMA) incurred by PFMA entities is often the subject of much debate. Recently,...

The nature of cession in security
Banking, Finance & Projects

The nature of cession in security

The cession of incorporeal rights is a legal principle on which significant amounts of money are transacted in the South African market.

The scope of material adverse change and material adverse effect provisions in facility agreements
Banking, Finance & Projects

The scope of material adverse change and material adverse effect provisions in facility agreements

A facility agreement typically contains both a material adverse change (MAC) clause and a material adverse effect (MAE) clause, which entitle a lender to enforce repayment of a loan...

A fair price for pledged assets
Banking, Finance & Projects

A fair price for pledged assets

In a loan transaction, a lender often requires security for the borrower’s obligation to repay the loan.

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