PALO ALTO, Calif., June 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Axel Merk notified the Board of ASA Gold and Precious Metals Ltd. of his resignation in his capacity of Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. His resignation does not affect his role as President and Chief Investment Officer of Merk Investments LLC, manager of ASA via a separate investment advisory agreement that currently is extended through June 30, 2026.
Below is a copy of the resignation letter sent by Mr. Merk to the Board of ASA.
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Dear ASA Board of Directors,
As COO of ASA, I am a Sarbanes-Oxley certifying officer and therefore bear personal responsibility for the Fund's internal controls over financial reporting. At the then-Board’s behest, I accepted that responsibility on March 26, 2019 in a good-faith effort to help strengthen ASA's governance and control environment. I have never received compensation for serving in this role.
Over the past year, ASA has experienced an extraordinary level of organizational change. Directors have resigned and been replaced. Key service providers and officers have departed or announced their departures. Merk's advisory agreement expires on June 30, 2026, with no announced successor. The Fund's current Principal Financial Officer is expected to retire this summer, and the Fund's Secretary will soon be on paternity leave.
Such transitions can be managed when accompanied by adequate planning, communication, and oversight. However, no transition plan has been communicated to me. At the same time, the Board has taken the unusual step of excluding Sarbanes-Oxley certifying officers from Board meetings and discussions concerning matters directly affecting the Fund's control environment. Shareholders have also not been informed of the discussions taking place.
The adviser performs functions that are integral to ASA's internal control framework, including valuation-related processes under Rule 2a-5 and provides significant inputs used in regulatory reporting. With less than three weeks before the June 30th deadline, there is inadequate time left to assure an orderly handover of these adviser responsibilities. This poses unacceptable risks to the control environment.
If the Board has established plans to preserve the integrity of the Fund's controls and compliance processes, those plans have not been communicated to me despite my responsibilities as a certifying officer.
Under these circumstances, I can no longer responsibly continue serving as ASA's Chief Operating Officer. Accordingly, I hereby resign from that position, effective immediately.
Sincerely,
Axel Merk
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Contacts:
Axel Merk
(408) 475-0186
Sondhelm Partners
Milin Iyer
(302) 981-3734
