The University of Pretoria’s (UP) Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS), in collaboration with UP’s Faculty of Law, has launched a first-of-its-kind master’s degree in insolvency and business rescue, aimed at professionals who want to attain an advanced degree while continuing to work at their respective organisations.

The closing date for applications is 31 March on year of first registration.

“The insolvency industry is changing rapidly around the world, with greater emphasis being placed on recovery as opposed to traditional winding down,” said Dr Wesley Rosslyn-Smith, Senior Lecturer specialising in Turnaround Management and Business Rescue. “The turnaround process is highly complex, pulling competencies from law, finance and business. As more professionals aim to build careers in business rescue, we saw the opportunity to offer a cross-disciplinary degree to a field that has traditionally been studied from only a legal perspective.”

Dr Rosslyn-Smith said UP’s Department of Business Management has been involved with research in turnaround management for over 30 years, making the union between the faculty of EMS and Law an obvious one for this programme.

“Studying insolvency law with business rescue together will enable students to gain a detailed understanding of the legal, financial, economic and governance issues underpinning debt finance and recovery. Students will also gain advanced knowledge of theoretical and practical issues guiding formal and informal debt restructuring procedures. This unique master’s programme combines modules from business and law, making it the first cross-disciplinary local degree of its kind and one of the few programmes addressing insolvency-related issues in South Africa.”

The high quality of the teaching is ensured by a top-class team of lecturers consisting of representatives from science and practice, including professors from UP’s Faculty of Law and Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, as well as external lecturers. They include experienced lawyers who specialise in insolvency law or restructuring, renowned insolvency and business rescue practitioners, partners in consulting firms, economists with a relevant job profile, and communication experts.

The admission requirements are: at least an honours degree in an academic discipline related to financial management or business management OR a four-year law degree OR any other qualification in an academic discipline relevant to this MPhil programme that allows admission to a master’s programme at the institution where the undergraduate qualification was obtained. If the duration of that qualification is less than four years, substantial proven practical or professional experience in insolvency and/ or business rescue practice will furthermore be required, subject to the discretion of the Dean. Alternatively, the student must have scored 65% or more in any other NQF level 8 qualification relevant to this MPhil programme.

Possible careers after completing this degree include: Insolvency Practitioner, Liquidator, Business Rescue Practitioner, Turnaround Management Consultant.

For more information on Business Turnaround Management and Business Rescue click here.

For interviews with Dr Wesley Rosslyn-Smith, please email Prim Gower at [email protected] or call 083 229 9011.