Riza Moosa

Practice Areas

Banking & Finance

Business Restructuring & Insolvency

Structured Finance

Trade & Commodities Finance

Financial Services & Regulation

Professional Memberships

Admitted Attorney, High Court of South Africa

Member of the Legal Practice Council, Gauteng office

Executive Member of CMS Africa Committee

Member of CMS Council

Publications

- A turning tide: Navigating the transition from JIBAR to ZARONIA | Africa Legal | 13 March 2026

- Curbing the Legacy Problem: How businesses should act now on JIBAR cessation | Legal Update | 2 February 2026

- Announcement on the future cessation of JIBAR | Legal Update | 11 December 2025

- BACKSTORY: Riza Moosa of CMS South Africa | Financial Mail | 9 October 2025

- CMS South Africa Finance Partner on Talent Wars, Expansion, and Opposition to Black Ownership | Law.com | 20 August 2025

Awards

Education

Languages Spoken

English

Experience

Banking & Finance:

- Riza is a banking and finance lawyer over 24 years of experience, specialising in banking and finance, business rescue, insolvency and restructuring transactions.

- He co-founded the law firm, CMS South Africa, having previously headed Banking & Finance at the South African branch of an international law firm.

- Riza advises on complex high-value domestic cross-border banking and finance transactions and leads large multi-disciplinary teams in complicated debt restructuring, business rescue and refinancing transactions.

- His sector expertise is broad and includes financial services, mining and commodities, retail and Islamic finance.

- Market praise includes "very responsive and proactive", with one client attesting: "The quality of his legal work is top class". Clients also consider him "a leading expert on Islamic transactions and structuring". He is described by peers as "a versatile lawyer" who is "practical in his approach". Another source added: "I find Riza one of the few people who is able to excel and use different aspects of the law to make a solution work" - Chambers & Partners, South Africa.

Business Restructuring & Insolvency

- With more than 24 years of experience in banking and finance, Riza is acutely aware of how to bring financially distressed companies and lenders to the table and mutually beneficial agreement.

- Riza leads large multi-disciplinary teams in complicated debt restructuring, work outs, business rescue and refinancing transactions. He acts for a number of development financiers on a range of finance transactions and understands development finance well.

- Riza’s experience in financial restructuring and insolvency spans a variety of industries, in particular construction, telecoms, financial services, media, real estate, retail and hospitality and leisure.