CHAMWE KAIRA
The Namibia Securities Exchange listed Africa Bitcoin Corporation Limited (ABC), has placed its chief executive officer Warren Wheatley and chief investment officer Akshay Karan on precautionary leave.
This follows decisions by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa affecting the two executives and the company’s head of media and investor relations, Tatum Wheatley.
The company said its board was informed on 30 August 2026 that the FSCA had issued debarment orders against the three individuals.
The orders restrict them from providing or being involved in the provision of financial products or financial services, acting as key persons of financial institutions, or providing services to financial institutions.
ABC said the FSCA decisions were communicated confidentially to the individuals and had not been published by the regulator as of the date of the company’s announcement.
The three individuals dispute the FSCA’s findings and intend to apply to the Financial Services Tribunal for reconsideration and suspension of the decisions.
However, ABC said no order suspending the FSCA decisions had been granted, meaning the decisions remain effective.
The company stressed that the FSCA decisions were not issued against ABC or any other entity within the group.
It said there had been no finding, administrative penalty or debarment order against any group entity, with the orders applying only to the individuals.
As a precaution, ABC placed Wheatley and Karan on leave from their respective executive roles and removed them from all group executive, management, advisory, operational and decision-making responsibilities.
The services provided by Tatum Wheatley through her consulting business have also been suspended, subject to the applicable services agreement.
The measures took effect on 31 August for an initial one-month period, subject to board review. During this period, the three individuals will not exercise authority on behalf of, or represent, ABC or the wider group.
Stafford Masie, an existing executive director and director of Bitcoin Strategy, has assumed the position of interim CEO with effect from 31 August.
Masie will also oversee the group’s executive arrangements relating to Altvest Credit Opportunities Fund Limited (ACOF), a wholly owned subsidiary of ABC, although he will not serve as a director of ACOF.
ABC said the measures were precautionary and non-disciplinary and did not represent a determination by the board on the merits of the FSCA findings or the individuals’ challenges.
In a further board change, Wheatley resigned as a director of ABC with effect from 31 August. Wheatley, Karan and Tatum Wheatley also resigned as directors of ACOF on the same date.
