Marelise van der Westhuizen
Marelise van der Westhuizen is a Director in our Dispute Resolution practice. Marelise focusses on litigation and dispute resolution, corporate and commercial litigation, banking, State owned enterprises, mining, minerals, natural resources and energy.
Marelise advises the banking industry on anti-corruption and money laundering legislation and parastatals and development finance institutions on their preferential procurement frameworks and related litigious disputes. She also has a significant investigations practice across all sectors.
About Marelise
About Marelise
Marelise joined Norton Rose Fulbright SA Inc (NRF) in July 2000 as a Senior Associate in the Corporate and Commercial team, specialising in corporate and commercial disputes. She was promoted to Equity Partner effective April 2003.
In 2001, with the draft publication of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), Marelise was appointed the Chairperson of the Law Society of South Africa's committee on anti-money laundering legislation and an appointed by the then Minister of Finance to represent the legal profession as a member of the Money Laundering Advisory Council. This appointment culminated in Marelise giving input on the draft FICA regulations, educating attorneys across the country on the provisions of FICA, and twice addressing the Financial Action Task force in their country assessments on behalf of the profession in South Africa.
In 2012 Marelise mapped the regulatory expertise in the firm as part of the development of a risk advisory practice to enable NRF to address clients' regulatory concerns holistically, and in line with their enterprise strategy. This contributed to the formation of a very successful internal practice within the global firm. From 2015 until Marelise' departure from NRF she was the head of the Risk Advisory Practice for Africa.
From 2006 to 2022 Marelise held several leadership roles including a position on NRF's Remuneration Committee, its Board and its Management Committee whilst running a fulltime practice. Marelise was appointed as CEO of NRF in October 2018.
Marelise joined CDH in 2024 as a Director in the Dispute Resolution practice.
Credentials
Credentials
Education
- BProc, University of South Africa
Languages
Languages
- Afrikaans
- English
About Marelise
Marelise joined Norton Rose Fulbright SA Inc (NRF) in July 2000 as a Senior Associate in the Corporate and Commercial team, specialising in corporate and commercial disputes. She was promoted to Equity Partner effective April 2003.
In 2001, with the draft publication of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), Marelise was appointed the Chairperson of the Law Society of South Africa's committee on anti-money laundering legislation and an appointed by the then Minister of Finance to represent the legal profession as a member of the Money Laundering Advisory Council. This appointment culminated in Marelise giving input on the draft FICA regulations, educating attorneys across the country on the provisions of FICA, and twice addressing the Financial Action Task force in their country assessments on behalf of the profession in South Africa.
In 2012 Marelise mapped the regulatory expertise in the firm as part of the development of a risk advisory practice to enable NRF to address clients' regulatory concerns holistically, and in line with their enterprise strategy. This contributed to the formation of a very successful internal practice within the global firm. From 2015 until Marelise' departure from NRF she was the head of the Risk Advisory Practice for Africa.
From 2006 to 2022 Marelise held several leadership roles including a position on NRF's Remuneration Committee, its Board and its Management Committee whilst running a fulltime practice. Marelise was appointed as CEO of NRF in October 2018.
Marelise joined CDH in 2024 as a Director in the Dispute Resolution practice.
Credentials
Education
- BProc, University of South Africa
Languages
- Afrikaans
- English
Experience
Provided risk advisory and remediation advice to a multinational consulting company following allegations of director misconduct and improper procurement processes when engaging with state owned enterprises.
Conducted corporate governance investigations for the South African National Olympic Committee.
Advised a multinational energy company in relation to a review of compliance issues arising from its operations within a particular Sub-Saharan jurisdiction. The advice emanating from the investigation related to company procurement, corporate governance, internal structures and allegations of possible corruption, fraud and influence of government officials.
Advised a multi-national company in relation to the conduct of a cross-jurisdictional internal investigation, involving amongst other regulators, the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), into allegations including corruption, corporate espionage, fraud and money laundering. The advice emanating from the investigation findings related to, amongst other things, legislated reporting obligations, the unwinding of contractual obligations, the application of relevant legislation and corporate governance.
Advised a multi-national bank in a contentious cross-border internal investigation into allegations relating to the violation of exchange control regulations and unlawful externalisation of funds.
Advised a bank with a large southern African presence in an internal investigation into procurement related irregularities and provided advice emanating from the investigation findings.
Advised a multi-national company in a third-party anti-corruption due diligence in accordance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Advised a major public entity on all aspects of its response to an investigation into irregularities and maladministration in the award of a tender. Our advice related to, among others, legislated reporting obligations, unwinding the tender process without challenge, disciplinary proceedings and corporate governance.
Advised a major South African bank on charges relating to the failure to report suspicious transactions in terms of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act. The criminal proceedings focused on the use by the bank of a software system and required an in-depth understanding as well as expert evidence on how the software worked, how it was tweaked and whether it had failed.
Advised a US-based multinational provider of procurement, engineering and construction services to the electric power and oil and natural gas sectors on the South African law aspects of its internal investigation, following the receipt of a document preservation request from the Securities and Exchange Commission, pertaining to its dealings in South Africa and other jurisdictions.
Advising a major public entity on all aspects of its response to an investigation into irregularities and maladministration in the award of a public tender. Her advice related to, among others, legislated reporting obligations, unwinding the tender process without challenge, disciplinary proceedings and corporate governance.
News
Business and human rights: An emerging sector in South Africa and new offering at CDH
Human rights encompass a range of civil, political, social, cultural, and environmental rights. Business and human rights (BHR) has gained significant traction and concern globally...
One of South Africa’s watchdogs’ power to issue directives: The subject of litigation
In South African Human Rights Commission v Agro Data CC & Another (Afriforum, Centre for Applied Legal Studies and Commission for Gender Equality intervening as Amici Curiae) ZASCA...
FIC provides clarity on beneficial ownership
Following consultations and comments from the tail end of last year, on 8 August 2024, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) published Public Compliance Communication (PCC) 59, which...
Understanding black swan events: Why an anticipatory risk management approach is the antidote
On Friday 19 July 2024, the world encountered the biggest IT outage in history when major cybersecurity company CrowdStrike released a faulty update that caused an estimated 8 million computers...
A step in the right direction: Mining sector required to develop a GBVF implementation plan
On 2 August 2024, a Guidance Note for the Management of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) , Safety and Security challenges for women in the South African mining industry (Guidance...
Market recognition
- Chambers Global 2021 - 2022 recognised Marelise as an "Eminent Practitioner".
- Chambers Global 2018 - 2020 ranked her in Band 3.
- Chambers Global 2012 - 2017 ranked Marelise in Band 4 with clients commenting that Marelise is an "extremely hard-working" lawyer with "good attention to detail".
- Chambers Global 2010 - 2011 recognised her Up & Coming
- The Legal500 EMEA 2018 recommended Marelise for dispute resolution.
- In the Acritas Star Lawyers survey, published in January 2018, Marelise was designated as a "Star Lawyer". The Star Lawyer designation is based on feedback from 4,300 clients over a three year period. "Very professional, very short turnaround times, availability, regular follow-ups, and that type of thing. You know, you don't have to wait for responses. A very proactive approach to our business and really making an effort to get to know our business. That to me is very, very important. " "She's an absolutely exceptional lawyer. She's incredibly attentive to our requirements, she incredibly responsive to our needs, and she is unbelievably diligent and hardworking. I have an enormous amount of respect for this lawyer, I really get the results I'm looking for. I would be hard pressed to use anybody other than her in the regulatory space."
- In March 2015 Global Investigations Review ranked Marelise in Women in Investigations in the Top 100 Investigations Specialists around the world.
Market recognition
- Chambers Global 2021 - 2022 recognised Marelise as an "Eminent Practitioner".
- Chambers Global 2018 - 2020 ranked her in Band 3.
- Chambers Global 2012 - 2017 ranked Marelise in Band 4 with clients commenting that Marelise is an "extremely hard-working" lawyer with "good attention to detail".
- Chambers Global 2010 - 2011 recognised her Up & Coming
- The Legal500 EMEA 2018 recommended Marelise for dispute resolution.
- In the Acritas Star Lawyers survey, published in January 2018, Marelise was designated as a "Star Lawyer". The Star Lawyer designation is based on feedback from 4,300 clients over a three year period. "Very professional, very short turnaround times, availability, regular follow-ups, and that type of thing. You know, you don't have to wait for responses. A very proactive approach to our business and really making an effort to get to know our business. That to me is very, very important. " "She's an absolutely exceptional lawyer. She's incredibly attentive to our requirements, she incredibly responsive to our needs, and she is unbelievably diligent and hardworking. I have an enormous amount of respect for this lawyer, I really get the results I'm looking for. I would be hard pressed to use anybody other than her in the regulatory space."
- In March 2015 Global Investigations Review ranked Marelise in Women in Investigations in the Top 100 Investigations Specialists around the world.