Estrella Immunopharma, Inc. 10-Q

ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures Disclosure controls and procedures are controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures As required by Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2023. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15 (e) and 15d-15 (e) under the Exchange Act) were not effective. Management’s Controls Over Financial Reporting Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that the information we are required to disclose in reports that we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Our management, with the participation and supervision of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, have evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report. Based on such evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were not, in design and operation, effective as of December 31, 2023 at a reasonable assurance level due to the material weaknesses and significant deficiency in internal control over financial reporting described below: Material Weakness ● We did not have qualified full-time personnel with appropriate levels of accounting knowledge and experience to address complex U.S. GAAP accounting issues and to prepare and review financial statements and related disclosures under U.S. GAAP. 34 ● We did not have comprehensive written control policies in place; we did not have an internal audit function or IT function to ensure the internal controls are properly designed and implemented. ● We lacked evidence of certain review and approval procedures performed. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, within the meaning of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Auditing Standard AS 2201, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Following the identification of the material weaknesses, we plan to take remedial measures including: ● hiring qualified accounting personnel with relevant U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting experience and qualifications to strengthen the financial reporting function and to set up a financial and system control framework; ● implementing regular and continuous U.S. GAAP accounting and financial reporting training programs for our accounting and financial reporting personnel; ● establishing internal audit function by engaging an external consulting firm to assist us with assessment of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 compliance requirements and improvement of overall internal control; and ● strengthening corporate governance. We believe, however, that a controls system, no matter how well designed and operated, cannot provide absolute assurance that the objectives of the controls systems are met, and no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud or error, if any, within a company have been detected. Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting The Company is in the process of implementing certain changes in its internal control over financial reporting to remediate the material weaknesses described above. The implementation of the material aspects of this plan began in the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, and the Company is planning to remediate the material weaknesses described above by the end of fiscal year 2024. As a result, there has been no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the second quarter of fiscal year 2024, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, its internal control over financial reporting. 35 PART II - OTHER INFORMATION ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS None.