Frequently asked questions

Well here is the honest answer.  Executive directors have a normal day time time job like yourself.  They are normal members doing a volunteer job at no compensation, but having been elected to office, do the best they can while still running their own businesses. 

This normally involve setting out time after-hours to attend to TMA-SA affairs, although they also sacrifice normal work time to attend to duties, attend Exco and board meetings, etc. 

We are a young and growing organisation, but has a secretariat of only one - the Administrator.

Attending networking events is a good way to meet other service and capital providers to the turnaround industry. 

But the best way is to have a complete profile on your personal member page.  It contains your contact details, background, qualifications, services offered, information about your firm, etc. 

But the onus lies on you to come up with the material, we just publish it.  To add detail to your profile or change particulars, simply compete the form on the member profile update page.

Email us your company logo and pictures and we'll add that too. 

No, membership is on an individual basis.

TMA response 1:

"This should be a parallel body.  Setting up TMA as a regulatory body could cause a major conflict of interest with members.  It would be wonderful if the two organizations worked collaboratively and certainly setting up a certification program could work well for both."

TMA response 2:

"While we would be happy to talk more about this issue, you should understand that TMA does not involve itself in legislative or regulatory activities. TMA is in the process of exploring the formation of a legislative action committee, but due to the extreme diversity of our membership, the disadvantages appear to outweigh the advantages. We have creditor lawyers who oppose debtor lawyers, restructuring advisors with divergent points of view, liquidators who prefer liquidations as opposed to restructuring, lenders who compete against other lenders, non-U.S. members who feel the precedent from a U.S. position could be adverse to the non- U.S. members, and so forth. While we treasure this diversity in our membership, it makes it nigh impossible to "get on the same page" with legislative efforts. My prediction is that the TMA leadership will be presented with a finding during the next year that it should not have a legislative action committee.

One of our primary concerns is that the process of taking a position as to legislation could cleave our membership.

Bear in mind nothing in our code of ethics prohibits an individual from taking legislative action, but they cannot say such efforts are on behalf of TMA.

Also, as the SA - TMA formation efforts are indeed fledgling, albeit well intended, I think it is safe to say that even if TMA were prone to taking a position, there would not be any interest by TMA to consider supportive action in advance of the formal formation of a chapter."

TMA response:

Dues - Any new member that joins after June 30 will receive a half-price membership.  However, they will not be included in the 2004 TMA directory.

In March 2003, a special task force on TMA Relations submitted a final report outlining international expansion guidelines.  One of the guidelines is that the fiscal operations of all chapters should be consistent, including dues.  It was also decided that once a chapter is established, dues would be charged in the local currency, at the prevailing rate at the beginning of the year.  The international office will absorb the currency costs/gains. 

There are guidelines that allow for a "relief petition" to be filed that would lower the dues amount for a limited time.  I am attaching the guidelines to this message.  Please know that this must be submitted no later than June 30 for implementation in 2005.  It is my understanding that the last petition was not granted and that there are some fairly strong opinions that every member should pay the same amount.

If you would like to file a petition, please let me know.

The following response was received by the TMA in answer to the apparent discrepancy between categories used when applying for membership on the TMA's web site, and the categories in the Chapter Leadership Manual - the response replaces the material in Model by-laws Article VI Section 1 page 37:

"The Leadership Manual is in need of some updating.  We no longer separate members into practitioner and Associates.  TMA members are classified as (a) Members (b) Students (c) Academic/Government employees."

TMA response:

"In order to reach "Chapter in Formation" status, the chapter must have 10 members in good standing.

In order to reach "Provisional Chapter" status, the chapter must have 25 members in good standing and supply the documentation outlined in the attachment (I believe I sent this last week).

To become a full chapter, you must remain a "Provisional Chapter" for one year and maintain at least 25 members.  It doesn't appear that this will be difficult for the SA group."

TMA response:

"Turnaround Management Association - Southern Africa"

TMA response:

"Yes, this is fine.  In fact, our International Board of Directors is lead by a Chairman and President.  We will need you to specify which position will hold the seat on the International Board of Directors."

TMA response:

"Yes, please feel free to use the language that is most familiar to South Africa.  For consistency sake, the position that holds the seat on the International Board of Directors will be referred to as the "President of the South Africa Chapter" in international publications such as the directory and annual report."

While the model by-laws suggest a procedure for re-election, the Work Group has suggested a mechanism for the first election in Handout Pack 1.  The legal subcommittee is presently writing this into the Rules and Regulations.

The SA Chapter, will like the Chapters in the USA and Chapters in other countries, be separate corporate entities.

The only stipulation from the TMA, as laid in the TMA's model by-laws, is that that the SA Chapter be properly constituted with best practice structures in place.

TMA response:

"The Turnaround Management Association (TMA) does not dictate turnaround policies, but is an association of turnaround professionals from many disciplines including bankers, lawyers, financiers and accountants who have a common interest in corporate renewal. 

The Association provides networking and educational opportunities on local, regional, national and international levels. 

The Association is organized as a non-profit association with independent chapters (city, region, state or country) that are incorporated in local jurisdictions and follow TMA guidelines and policies.

To assist in chapter formation, TMA provides model by-laws to groups interested in forming a chapter. This is done as a service to the group in order to cut down on legal fees that would be required to develop such by-laws. It is a requirement that all by-laws that are developed be reviewed by local legal counsel to ensure the compliance with all laws and regulations of the country of residence. It is also encouraged that the by-laws be tailored to fit the local customs and business environment. The by-laws will also be reviewed by counsel for TMA to confirm that they are consistent (subject to local customs and laws of the chapter) with TMA policies and guidelines.

The model by-laws that have been developed encourage sound organizational development and management and do not in any way dictate the laws, regulations and policies of the turnaround industry.

Turnaround professionals work independently and not on behalf of or at the direction of the association. They are members of the association for professional, networking and educational purposes. Therefore, members may be retained by other members, however that is an arrangement between those members that may have been facilitated by their mutual involvement in TMA.

Each member is responsible for their actions in fulfilling their own professional engagements. TMA does require that all members sign a Code of Ethics ensuring the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and competence for those engaged in all matters involving turnaround and crisis management and corporate renewal."

TMA response:

"This is currently being done in the UK and New Zealand so I do not anticipate that this would be a problem as long as a sound plan for customizing the program is presented to the ACTP Board of Directors.  I would advise that you seek the large turnaround firms for buy-in before you embark on the task.  "

From the Chapter Leadership Manual:

"Chapters can defray operational or event costs by corporate sponsorship.  Except for new membership and renewal fees, funds generated by chapters are reserved solely for their use and are not shared with TMA head quarters."

Below follows an extract from the 5th May 2004 letter from the TMA's Launch Steering Group's Chairman-designate: Themba September (the original ABARP is replaced with ABASA here):

"You may be aware of this association, since it was part of the proposals made at Department of Justice’s workshop in March this year.

The ABASA will be under the control of the State Law Advisor.  Turnaround professionals will be appointed from a panel, a similar procedure to that currently pertaining to  the appointment of liquidators at present, and the various panels will be at the disposal of the Master's Office.  To serve on the turnaround panel, one must belong to ABASA.  To qualify, candidates need to be:

This summary may be truncated and/or super-ceded by events, and represents my understanding from discussions held at DoJ in March.  I trust Patrick Daly at Daly Inc would be more in a position to give you chapter and verse on ABASA.  

What is important to understand is that ABASA is geared to cater for the future "formal turnarounds" or "legislative" turnarounds only.  In contrast, the historical driving force behind the SA Chapter of the TMA is to cater for the current informal turnaround sector i.e. turnarounds associated with shareholder, creditor /bank workouts and those turnarounds that take place in the time continuum ahead of the legislative processes.  Naturally, I am confident that the local TMA chapter will support the "Business Administration Act" initiative as it is certainly symbiotic to its objectives. Most prospective members are ready to and some already do actively assist in the furtherance of a change in the ethos from a primarily liquidation mode to a rescue/wealth preservation one. We are thus ready to assist with the promulgation and practical applications of the new business rescue legislation, should the State Law Advisory wish us to play a role.  In fact, it is envisaged that the local TMA chapter will support ABASA by promoting BEE in the formal turnaround industry, helping TMA members to qualify for admission to ABASA, help with a training and certification programme to attract new blood to the formal turnaround industry, especially black professionals, etc.

There is and can be no conflict between establishing the local TMA Chapter and the advent of ABASA.  In fact, our various groups (Work-, Advisory-, etc incorporate professionals who are closely involved with the ABASA initiative."