SEC Form 10-K/A filed by BioNexus Gene Lab Corp (Amendment)

UNITED STATES 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

Amendment No.1

FORM 10-K/A

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2023

or

For the transition period from ________ to ________

Commission File Number: 001-41750

+1 307 241 6898 

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: 

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

As of June 30, 2023, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $66.5 million (this amount represents approximately 25.1 million shares of BioNexus Gene Lab Corp’s common stock based on the last reported sales price of $2.6521 of the common stock on such date).

As of December 31, 2023, there were 17,667,663 shares of common stock, no par value, outstanding.

Explanatory Note

This filing is in response to a Comment Letter from the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other than as expressly set forth herein, this Amendment does not, and does not purport to, amend, update or restate the information in the Original Filing or reflect any events that have occurred after the Original Filing was made. Information not affected by this Amendment remains unchanged and reflects the disclosures made at the time as of which the Original Filing was made. No changes have been made to the financial statements of the Company as contained in the Original Filing. Accordingly, this Amendment should be read together with the Original Filing and the Company’s other filings with the SEC.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

In connection with the preparation of this annual report, an evaluation was carried out by the Company’s management, with the participation of the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act (“Exchange Act”) as of December 31, 2023. Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

Based on that evaluation, the Company’s management concluded, as of the end of the period covered by this report, that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective in recording, processing, summarizing, and reporting information required to be disclosed, within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, and that such information was not accumulated and communicated to management, including the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. The Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to the fact in Part II., Item 9A. Controls and Procedures in the Original Filing, as management did not reach a conclusion on the effectiveness of the controls and procedures.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

The management of the Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process, under the supervision of the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of the Company’s financial statements for external purposes in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

The Company’s management conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013) as set forth in its Internal Control - Integrated Framework. This assessment concluded that the internal control over financial reporting were effective.

In reaching its conclusion, management considered the potential material weakness due to the lack of segregation of duties between the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer as the same person currently fulfils both roles. However, when the former Chief Financial Officer resigned in October 2023, the Audit Committee working with management installed additional controls whereby the Audit Committee Chairman would have access to financial reports on a regular and at will basis. In addition, since that time, the Audit Committee Chairman conducts regular interviews with the Principal Financial Officer to ensure adequate oversight over the financial process. Finally, as the Company conducts its business mainly through its subsidiaries, there are sufficient and separate accounting staff in each of its subsidiaries to maintain an effective segregation of duties, and oversight by the Management and the Audit Committee.

This annual report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding our internal controls over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our registered public accounting firm pursuant to Section 404(c) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act that permit us to provide only management’s report in this annual report.

Changes in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting

During the year ended December 31, 2023, there has been no change in internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected or is reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.

Item 6. Exhibits.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

 May 31, 2024