Dave King has put off his Ibrox coronation after Rangers stock market advisers quit over concerns that he was taking control.

WH Ireland's move led to the suspension of trading in Rangers International Football Club plc shares on the Aim stock market.

King condemned the move from Rangers' nominated advisers and said that former director Paul Murray would be put forward as interim chairman until the process is complete.

The nominated adviser, which acts as a stock market regulator, resigned with the RIFC board, saying WH Ireland "does not believe it can satisfy the London Stock Exchange in relation to its obligations in respect of the appropriateness of the company's securities to be admitted to Aim".

WH Ireland sources confirmed to The Herald that the decision was made because of Mr King's imminent arrival in the Ibrox boardroom.

The Nomad has previously raised concern that there could be a "material adverse impact" on the company's listing on Aim if King was appointed to the company's board.

It came after noting Mr King's 2013 conviction in relation to breaching 41 criminal counts of South Africa's Income Tax Act.

Court documents confirm that King was sentenced to a fine totalling 3.28 million South African Rand (£180,000) in relation to those counts or face 82 years in prison. He avoided the jail sentence by paying the fine.

King also agreed to pay a £45 million settlement to the South Africa Revenue Service in relation to his personal income tax and the tax liability of Ben Nevis, a King trust company managed out of Guernsey.

Concern was also raised that King was a director in the five years preceding an insolvency event, holding office under the disastrous ownership of Craig Whyte until June, 2012, four months after the Rangers oldco entered administration. It is now being liquidated.

A WH Ireland source said of the resignation: "Yes, it has happened and for the very reasons that we discussed. Their concerns were about the new team."

King said: "It is important that I lead by example following my commitment to transparency and accountability.

"An important issue that was repeatedly (and correctly) raised by the previous board is the need for the regulators to be given time to complete the necessary due diligence on myself - given my intended role as chairman of the company.

"However, engagement with the regulators can only commence at the specific request of the company and that process can only be initiated on conclusion of the general meeting."

The development came less than 48 hours before an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders called by King to remove the current board and replace with himself, Mr Murray and John Gilligan, the one-time manager of Glasgow brewer Tennent's.

Director James Easdale and chairman David Somers have since quit, leaving allies of Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley: chief executive Derek Llambias and finance director Barry Leach.

Leach and Llambias had said one of the reasons they were staying on was to avoid the risk of the company's shares being suspended.

It also came the day after it emerged that King is likely to face a Scottish Football Association judicial panel over whether he breaches its fit-and-proper person guidelines as he prepares to take his place on the Rangers board.

The board warned after the temporary shares suspension: "If the company is not able to restore trading within one month, admission of the company's securities to AIM will be cancelled.

"If requested during the suspension period WH Ireland is willing to assist the company to implement the necessary changes for WH Ireland or another Nomad to become satisfied as to the company's appropriateness for AIM. If a nominated adviser is appointed it may apply to the London Stock Exchange on behalf of the company for trading to be restored.

"The directors are disappointed that this event has had to take place despite the considerable efforts they have made over the last few weeks and months against the backdrop of the general meeting requisition and wish also to record their appreciation to their outgoing Nomad for all it has done for the club."

The board has said it believes there can be no guarantee that a new Nomad would be appointed and without that the company would no longer be traded on any Stock Exchange, making raising capital "both more difficult and more expensive".

King has previously said his discussions about appointing a new Nomad after the EGM indicated that they "other than the normal due diligence - have no concerns about that".

Nominated advisers are the primary regulators of any company floated on the Aim stock exchange and face losing their valuable status on the Stock Exchange Nomad register if making a poor judgement over the suitability of directors.