Business rescue legislation is contained in Chapter 6 of the Companies Act No. 71, 2008.

The Companies Act 2008 was signed by the president on the April 8 2009 and gazetted Thursday, April 9 2009, in Gazette No. 32121 (Notice No. 421). 

The Companies Act 2008 comes into operation on a date fixed by the president by proclamation in the Gazette, which may not be earlier than one year following the date on which the president assented to this Act.  The unconfirmed earmarked implementation date is 1 July 2010.

The Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP) credential was designed in the USA to encourage professional excellence, provide an objective measure and recognition of expertise, and provide evidence of an individual’s commitment to the turnaround and corporate renewal industry.   To this end, the Turnaround Management Association - Southern Africa has commenced with activities to launch the Certified Turnaround Professional programme in South Africa under license from TMA, and in partnership with Services SETA.

Additional designations will be offered at entry level, as well as to provide for a sufficiently large number of Business Rescue Professionals when new business rescue legislation is implemented.

The Certification Governance Board (CGB), chaired by Professor Mervyn King, will from 2010 will be independent from the Board of Directors of TMA-SA.  The CGB consists of an Academic Subcommittee, responsible for the body of knowledge and exams, and a Standards Subcommittee, responsible for admitting individuals based on having passed the exam, and possessing certain prescribed education and experience. 

 

 

Click on the thumbnail to view the complete turnaround certification implementation timeline.

 

 

Click on the thumbnail to view the next four months only of the turnaround certification implementation timeline.

 

 

While the timeline is very tentative at this stage, our goal is to make coursework available by June 2010, have the first exams written in September 2010, and with the first CTP and ATP designations awarded in January 2011. 

The first certification will therefore unfortunately be only after implementation of new business rescue legislation, expected to by 1 July 2010.  For this reason, the Registered Turnaround Professional (RTP) designation, which does not require exams for the first two years after promulgation of the Companies Act No. 71 of 2009, has been added to set of designations.

See Implementation timeline for an up-to-date status report on the programme.