VALR CEO Farzam Ehsani urged South Africa to lift exchange controls rather than tighten them, amid industry pushback against national treasury's draft Capital Flow Management Regulations, gazetted on 17 April 2026, which would replace the Exchange Control Regulations of 1961 and bring crypto assets formally within South Africa's capital flow framework.
WHAT EHSANI SAID
Ehsani, co-founder and chief executive of crypto exchange VALR, made the case for lifting exchange controls in a Moneyweb crypto podcast titled "Let's be brave and lift exchange controls".
In April, Ehsani described treasury's draft as "an alarming document", citing provisions giving treasury and enforcement officers broad powers to search and seize currency, crypto assets, gold or securities; contraventions carry fines of up to R1 million and up to five years in prison.
Sources: Moneyweb; TechCentral
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