PORTLAND – The Turnaround Management Association of New England Inc.’s Maine Satellite Chapter will hold a panel discussion on business ethics.

“Ethical Issues Facing Lender/Turnaround Professional Relationships” will be discussed at the group’s regular spring meeting at the Doubletree Hotel in Portland on March 25.

“Being a turnaround professional is a difficult job because you have no natural allies at the outset of the engagement,” said John C. Thibodeau, chairman of the Maine Chapter. “The secured lender, who often refers a turnaround professional to a borrower, expects you to get him repaid. The borrower has hired you under duress and frequently sees you as an agent of the lender. The employees fear you will fire them, and the unsecured creditors assume you are there solely to get the lender repaid,” Thibodeau said.

The March meeting presentation will focus on the pressures applied to turnaround professionals, the relationships with the lender and other constituents, and the code of ethics under which the turnaround professional practices.

James C. Ebbert, CTP, of the McShane Group, will be the host of this session. Ebbert has been consulting in turnarounds for more than 10 years.

McShane Group (www.-mcshanegroup.com) is a boutique turnaround firm headquartered in Baltimore with regional offices in Atlanta, Richmond and Maine. Ebbert will be joined by Robert A. Burgess, esq., a senior vice president of Key Bank, NA. Burgess has headed one of the Bank’s Asset Recovery Groups for 15 years. Both individuals bring a wealth of experience in their respective roles in the turnaround profession.

The breakfast meeting will be held from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on March 25. Registration, which includes a continental breakfast, is $20 in advance for TMA members, $30 in advance for non-members and $35 at the door. Registration information is obtainable by calling (978) 263-5718 or by contacting TMA Chapter Administrator Liza Cormier at [email protected] or visiting the organization’s Web site at www.tmanortheast.org.

The Maine Satellite Chapter of TMA provides a forum for the growing number of area professionals, including lawyers, bankers, accountants and turnaround consultants, who are involved in working with troubled companies.