About

South African financial services group Sanlam is headquartered in Bellville, Western Cape and is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Namibian Stock Exchange, boasting an extensive African footprint in more than 30 African countries. The legal team is led by the newly appointed chief legal advisor, Pavel Hassim who since joining Sanlam in August 2018, brings a significant amount of legal financial experience having served as head of legal within a number of large banks in Africa such as FirstRand Bank, Imperial Bank and Nedbank. Earlier this year, the in-house legal department worked on Sanlam’s acquisition of Morocco’s Saham Finances, in one of the company’s biggest acquisitions to further deepen its presence in 33 markets across Africa and the Middle East. Sanlam already owned 46.6% of Saham Finances but the acquisition of the remaining share will give the company access to 65 subsidiaries across Africa, a network of 700 branches, more than 3,000 employees and US$1.2bn in annual turnover.