Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Item 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls
Our Chief Executive Officer and Principal Financial
Officer, after evaluating the effectiveness of our “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K (the “Evaluation
Date”), concluded that as of the Evaluation Date, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective to provide reasonable
assurance that information we are required to disclose in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed,
summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission rules and forms.
Changes in internal control over financial
reporting.
There were no changes in our internal control
over financial reporting during our most recent fiscal quarter that materially affected, or were reasonably likely to materially affect,
our internal control over financial reporting.
Limitations on the Effectiveness of Internal
Controls
Disclosure controls and procedures, no matter
how well designed and implemented, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving an entity’s disclosure objectives. The likelihood
of achieving such objectives is affected by limitations inherent in disclosure controls and procedures. These include the fact that human
judgment in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns in internal control can occur because of human failures such as simple errors
or mistakes or intentional circumvention of the established process.
Management’s Report on Internal Control
over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing
and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule
13a-15(f). Our management conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework
in Internal Control - Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the “COSO
Framework”). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
of our financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
A material weakness is a deficiency or combination
of deficiencies, 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. An effective internal control system,
no matter how well designed, has inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error or overriding of controls, and therefore
can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to reliable financial reporting. Because of its inherent limitations, our internal
control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect all misstatements, including the possibility of human error, the circumvention
or overriding of controls or fraud. Effective internal controls can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation
and fair presentation of financial statements.
In connection with the audit of our financial
statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we identified significant deficiencies in our internal control over
financial reporting and a general understanding of U.S. GAAP. As such, there is a reasonable possibility that a misstatement of our financial
statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
As we have thus far not needed to comply with
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm has performed an evaluation of
our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In light of this deficiency, we
believe that it is possible that certain control deficiencies and material weaknesses may have been identified if such an evaluation had
been performed.
53
We are working to remediate the deficiencies and
material weaknesses. Our remediation efforts are ongoing, and we will continue our initiatives to implement and document policies, procedures,
and internal controls. We have taken steps to enhance our internal control environment and plan to take additional steps to remediate
the deficiencies and address material weaknesses. Specifically:
·
We have hired our Vice President of Finance. We have also hired additional outside consultants, and we will hire qualified personnel in our accounting department, especially to add an experienced accountant in a controller capacity. We will continue to evaluate the structure of the finance organization and add resources as needed;
·
We are engaging an external accounting firm to supplement our efforts to the implementation of the COSO Framework for internal controls;
·
We will design and implement internal controls related to revenue and expenses recognition accounting;
·
We are initiating a comprehensive program and development plan to provide ongoing company-wide trainings regarding internal controls, with particular emphasis on the training of our accounting staff;
·
We are implementing additional internal reporting procedures, including those designed to add depth to our review processes and improve our segregation of duties;
·
We are updating our systems so that we may collect the information necessary to enable us to more effectively monitor and comply with applicable filing requirements on a timely basis;
·
We will continue to enhance risk assessment procedures and conduct a comprehensive risk assessment to enhance overall compliance; and
·
We are redesigning and implementing common internal control activities; and we will continue to establish policies and procedures and enhance corporate oversight over process-level controls and structures to ensure that there is appropriate assignment of authority, responsibility and accountability to enable remediating our material weaknesses.
In addition to the items noted above, as we continue
to evaluate, remediate and improve our internal control over financial reporting, executive management may elect to implement additional
measures to address control deficiencies or may determine that the remediation efforts described above require modification. Executive
management, in consultation with and at the direction of our Audit Committee, will continue to assess the control environment and the
above-mentioned efforts to remediate the underlying causes of the identified material weaknesses.
Although we plan to complete this remediation
process as quickly as possible, we are unable, at this time to estimate how long it will take; and our efforts may not be successful in
remediating the deficiencies or material weaknesses.
This annual report does not include an attestation
report of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s
report was not subject to attestation by the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the SEC
that permit the company to provide only management’s report on internal control in this annual report.
Item 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
Item 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT
INSPECTIONS
Not applicable.
54
PART III
Item 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The following table presents information with respect to our officers,
directors and significant employees as of the date of this report:
Name
Position
Dr. Edward Lee*
Director and Chairman
Dr. Desheng Wang**
Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, and Director
Duncan Lee***
Chief Financial Officer
Dr. Jennifer Gu*
Director
Michael Pope****
Director (1)
Sheri Lofgren****
Director (1)
Carine Clark****
Director (1)
Greg Butterfield*****
Director (1)
* Appointed director on October 21, 2015
** Appointed director on December 29, 2014
*** Appointed officer on April 2, 2018
**** Appointed director on June 8, 2018
***** Appointed director on November 28, 2018
(1) Independent director
Each director serves until our next annual meeting
of the stockholders or unless they resign earlier and serves until his or her successor is elected and qualified. At the present time,
members of the Board of Directors are not compensated with cash for their services to the board.
Each of our officers is elected by the Board of
Directors to a term of one (1) year and serves until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified, or until he or she is removed
from office.
Biographical Information Regarding Officers and Directors
Desheng Wang
Dr. Desheng Wang was appointed as Chief Executive
Officer, Secretary, and has been a director since December 29, 2014. Dr. Wang has over 20 years of professional experience in mobile technology.
Dr. Wang earned his bachelor’s degree from Hebei Normal University, Physics Department in 1985. In 1988, Dr. Wang earned his master’s
degree from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Science. Dr. Wang earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Emory University
in 1994. Dr. Wang served as a senior research fellow at California Institute of Technology from 1994-2011. Over the last five years, Dr.
Wang has served as president of Vitashower Corporation and formerly as President of Perfecular Inc.
Edward Lee
Dr. Edward Lee was appointed President and director
on October 21, 2015. On November 15, 2019, Dr. Lee resigned as President and was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Dr.
Lee received his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at Lanzhou University in 1983, received his master’s degree at University
of Science and Technology of China in 1985 and earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics at University of Florida in 1991. Dr. Lee worked as an
assistant professor at Tsinghua University in 1986 and National University of Singapore in 1992. Since 1996, Dr. Lee has served as CEO
of AIDP, a leading supplier of dietary supplement ingredients, focusing on research and development and marketing and sales of proprietary
ingredients like Magtein, KoACT, Predtic X, and Actizin. Dr. Lee is also serving as the Vice Chairperson of the American Chinese CEO Association.
Dr. Lee is married to Jennifer Gu, a current director of Focus Universal.
55
Duncan Lee
Duncan Lee was appointed as CFO on April 2, 2018.
Mr. Lee is presently a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Lee graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from
the University of Southern California and has more than 11 years of experience with public company accounting and financial reporting
with the SEC. Mr. Lee worked on the audit staff of the PCAOB accounting firm of Moore Stephens Wurth Frazer and Torbet LLP and then worked
as a senior associate at the PCAOB accounting firm of Simon & Edward, LLP in Diamond Bar, CA. Since 2011, Mr. Lee has worked in-house
as a staff accountant at a public company called E-World USA Holding, Inc. preparing their routine securities filings, including their
10-K and 10-Q filings. In addition to working with E-World USA Holding, Inc., in the past five years, Mr. Lee has also worked as an outside
consultant CPA for other public companies.
Jennifer Gu
Dr. Jennifer Gu was appointed as a director on
October 21, 2015. Dr. Gu earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from University of Florida in 1990 and earned her Ph.D. in Experimental
Pathology at University of California, Los Angeles in 1997. She also completed post-doctoral research at the California Institute of Technology
in 2004. Since 2005, Dr. Gu served, and is still currently serving, as the Vice President of Research & Development at AIDP. Dr. Gu
is married to Edward Lee, the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Focus Universal.
Michael Pope
Michael Pope was appointed as a director of the
Company on June 8, 2018. Mr. Pope serves as the CEO and Chairman at Boxlight Corporation (Nasdaq: BOXL), a global provider of interactive
technology solutions, where he has been an executive since July 2015 and director since September 2014. Mr. Pope has led Boxlight through
nine acquisitions from 2016 to 2020, a Nasdaq IPO in November 2017, and over $100 million in debt and equity fundraising. He previously
served as Managing Director at Vert Capital, a private equity and advisory firm from October 2011 to October 2016, managing portfolio
holdings in the education, consumer products, technology and digital media sectors. Prior to joining Vert Capital, from May 2008 to October
2011, Mr. Pope was Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer for the Taylor Family in Salt Lake City, managing family investment
holdings in consumer products, professional services, real estate and education. Mr. Pope also held positions including senior SEC reporting
at Omniture (previously listed on Nasdaq and acquired by Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) in 2009) and Assurance Associate at Grant Thornton. Since
January 2021, Mr. Pope has served as a member of the board of directors of Novo Integrated Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB: NVOS), a provider of
multi-dimensional primary healthcare products and services. He holds an active CPA license and earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees
in accounting from Brigham Young University.
Sheri Lofgren
Sheri Lofgren was appointed as an independent
director of the Company on June 8, 2018. Ms. Lofgren has served as a financial consultant since March 2018. She served as Chief Financial
Officer for Boxlight Corporation (Nasdaq: BOXL), a global education technology provider, from September 2014 to March 2018. She was Chief
Financial Officer at Logical Choice Technologies, Inc., a distributor of interactive technologies to the education market, from 2005 to
2013. Ms. Lofgren is a Certified Public Accountant with extensive experience in financial accounting and management, operational improvement,
budgeting and cost control, cash management and treasury, along with broad audit experience, internal control knowledge and internal and
external reporting. She started her career with KPMG and then joined Tarica and Whittemore, an Atlanta based CPA firm, as an audit manager.
Ms. Lofgren is a graduate of Georgia State University where she earned a B.A. in Business Administration – Accounting.
Greg Butterfield
Greg Butterfield was appointed as an independent
director of the Company on November 28, 2018. Mr. Butterfield is the founder and Managing Partner of SageCreek Partners (“SCP”)
a technology commercialization and consulting firm. Prior to starting SCP Mr. Butterfield served as the CEO of Vivint Solar, a leading
full-service residential solar integrator. Before Vivint, Mr. Butterfield was the Group President for Symantec’s Server and Storage
business units. Mr. Butterfield joined Symantec through the company’s acquisition of Altiris in April 2007. At Altiris, he served
as chairman of the board, President, and CEO starting in February 2000. Mr. Butterfield is widely credited as the driving force behind
eleven acquisitions and navigated the company through a successful IPO in 2002 in spite of a notable economic downturn in the technology
sector. The IPO was followed in August of 2003 with a successful secondary offering. Mr. Butterfield was invited to the 2006 World Economic
Forum as a Technology Pioneer. He was also the winner of the 2002 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award and served as the chairman
of the board of the Utah Information Technology Association from 2003 to 2005. Mr. Butterfield received a Bachelor of Science in Business
Administration (finance emphasis) from Brigham Young University.
56
Carine Clark
Carine Clark was appointed as an independent director
of the Company on June 8, 2018. Ms. Clark has served as president and CEO of four high-growth tech companies. In March 2019, Ms. Clark
was appointed to the board of directors of Domo, Inc. (NASDAQGM: DOMO) and is currently serving as a member of Domo’s compensation
committee. Since 2017 she has served as an Executive Board Member of the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Silicon
Slopes, a non-profit helping Utah’s tech community thrive. Prior to that, Ms. Clark served from January 2015 to December 2016 as
the President and CEO of MartizCX. From December 2012 to December 2016, Ms. Clark served as the President and CEO of Allegiance, Inc.
Her reputation as a data-driven marketing executive at Novell for 14 years, Altiris for five years, and Symantec for more than 10 years.
She has received numerous awards including the EY Entrepreneur of The Year® Award in the Utah Region and Utah Business Magazine’s
CEO of the Year. Ms. Clark earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational communications and an MBA from Brigham Young University.
Corporate Governance
Our Board of Directors currently consists of seven
members. Our Chairperson of the Board of Directors is Dr. Edward Lee. Dr. Edward Lee, Dr. Desheng Wang and Dr. Jennifer Gu are the three
members of our Board of Directors who are not independent directors. Michael Pope, Sheri Lofgren, Greg Butterfield, and Carine Clark are
four members of our Board of Directors who are independent directors.
Director Attendance at Meetings
Our Board of Directors conducts its business through
meetings, both in person and telephonic, and by actions taken by written consent in lieu of meetings. During the year ended December 31,
2021, our Board of Directors held four meetings. All directors attended at least 75% of the meetings of our Board of Directors and of
the committees of our Board of Directors on which they served during 2021.
Our Board of Directors encourages all directors
to attend our annual meetings of stockholders unless it is not reasonably practicable for a director to do so.
Committees of our Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors has established and delegated
certain responsibilities to its standing Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
Audit Committee
We have a separately designated standing Audit
Committee established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act. The Audit Committee’s primary duties and responsibilities
include monitoring the integrity of our financial statements, monitoring the independence and performance of our external auditors, and
monitoring our compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. The functions of the Audit Committee also include reviewing
periodically with our independent registered public accounting firm the performance of the services for which they are engaged, including
reviewing the scope of the annual audit and its results, reviewing with management and the auditors the adequacy of our internal accounting
controls, reviewing with management and the auditors the financial results prior to the filing of quarterly and annual reports, reviewing
fees charged by our independent registered public accounting firm and reviewing any transactions between our Company and related parties.
Our independent registered public accounting firm reports directly and is accountable solely to the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee
has the sole authority to hire and fire the independent registered public accounting firm and is responsible for the oversight of the
performance of their duties, including ensuring the independence of the independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee
also approves in advance the retention of, and all fees to be paid to, the independent registered public accounting firm. The rendering
of any auditing services and all non-auditing services by the independent registered public accounting firm is subject to prior approval
of the Audit Committee.
The Audit Committee operates under a written charter.
The Audit Committee is required to be composed of directors who are independent under the rules of the SEC and the listing standards of
The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (“NASDAQ”).
57
The current members of the Audit Committee are
directors Ms. Sheri Lofgren, the Chairperson of the Audit Committee, Mr. Michael Pope and Mr. Greg Butterfield, all of whom have been
determined by the Board of Directors to be independent under the NASDAQ listing standards and rules adopted by the SEC applicable to audit
committee members. The Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Sheri Lofgren qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert”
under the rules adopted by the SEC and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Audit Committee met four times during 2021.
Compensation Committee
The primary duties and responsibilities of our
standing Compensation Committee are to review, modify and approve the overall compensation policies for the Company, including the compensation
of the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and other senior management; establish and assess the adequacy of director compensation;
and approve the adoption, amendment and termination of the Company’s stock option plans, pension and profit-sharing plans, bonus
plans and similar programs. The Compensation Committee may delegate to one or more officers the authority to make grants of options and
restricted stock to eligible individuals other than officers and directors, subject to certain limitations. Additionally, the Compensation
Committee has the authority to form subcommittees and to delegate authority to any such subcommittee. The Compensation Committee also
has the authority, in its sole discretion, to select, retain and obtain, at the expense of the Company, advice and assistance from internal
or external legal, accounting or other advisors and consultants. Moreover, the Compensation Committee has sole authority to retain and
terminate any compensation consultant to assist in the evaluation of director, Chief Executive Officer or senior executive compensation,
including sole authority to approve such consultant’s reasonable fees and other retention terms, all at the Company’s expense.
The Compensation Committee operates under a written
charter. All members of the Compensation Committee must satisfy the independence requirements of NASDAQ applicable to compensation committee
members.
The Compensation Committee currently consists
of directors Ms. Carine Clark, Mr. Greg Butterfield, and Mr. Sheri Lofgren. Ms. Carine Clark is the Chairperson of the Compensation Committee.
Each of the Compensation Committee members has been determined by the Board of Directors to be independent under NASDAQ listing standards
applicable to compensation committee members. The Compensation Committee met four times during 2021.
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
identifies, reviews and evaluates candidates to serve on the Board; reviews and assesses the performance of the Board of Directors and
the committees of the Board; and assesses the independence of our directors. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is also
responsible for reviewing the composition of the Board’s committees and making recommendations to the entire Board of Directors
regarding the chairpersonship and membership of each committee. In addition, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible
for developing corporate governance principles and periodically reviewing and assessing such principles, as well as periodically reviewing
the Company’s policy statements to determine their adherence to the Company’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
has adopted a charter that identifies the procedures whereby Board of Director candidates are identified primarily through suggestions
made by directors, management and stockholders of the Company. We have implemented no material changes in the past year to the procedures
by which stockholders may recommend nominees for the Board. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider director nominees
recommended by stockholders that are submitted in writing to the Company’s Corporate Secretary in a timely manner and which provide
necessary biographical and business experience information regarding the nominee. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee does
not intend to alter the manner in which it evaluates candidates, including the criteria considered by the Nominating Committee, based
on whether or not the candidate was recommended by a stockholder. The Board of Directors does not prescribe any minimum qualifications
for director candidates, and all candidates for director will be evaluated based on their qualifications, diversity, age, skill and such
other factors as deemed appropriate by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee given the current needs of the Board of Directors,
the committees of the Board of Directors and the Company. Although the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee does not have a specific
policy on diversity, it considers the criteria noted above in selecting nominees for directors, including members from diverse backgrounds
who combine a broad spectrum of experience and expertise. Absent other factors which may be material to its evaluation of a candidate,
the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee expects to recommend to the Board of Directors for selection incumbent directors who
express an interest in continuing to serve on the Board. Following its evaluation of a proposed director’s candidacy, the Nominating
and Corporate Governance Committee will make a recommendation as to whether the Board of Directors should nominate the proposed director
candidate for election by the stockholders of the Company.
58
The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
operates under a written charter. No member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee may be an employee of the Company, and
each member must satisfy the independence requirements of NASDAQ and the SEC.
The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
currently consists of directors Mr. Greg Butterfield, who is the Chairperson of the committee, Mr. Michael Pope and Ms. Carine Clark.
Each of the members of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee has been determined by the Board of Directors to be independent
under NASDAQ listing standards. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee met four times in 2021.
Oversight of Risk Management
Risk is inherent with every business, and how
well a business manages risk can ultimately determine its success. We face a number of risks, including economic risks, financial risks,
legal and regulatory risks and others, such as the impact of competition. Management is responsible for the day-to-day management of the
risks that we face, while our Board, as a whole and through its committees, has responsibility for the oversight of risk management. In
its risk oversight role, our Board of Directors is responsible for satisfying itself that the risk management processes designed and implemented
by management are adequate and functioning as designed. Our Board of Directors assesses major risks facing our Company and options for
their mitigation in order to promote our stockholders’ interests in the long-term health of our Company and our overall success
and financial strength. A fundamental part of risk management is not only understanding the risks a company faces and what steps management
is taking to manage those risks, but also understanding what level of risk is appropriate for us. The involvement of our full Board of
Directors in the risk oversight process allows our Board of Directors to assess management’s appetite for risk and also determine
what constitutes an appropriate level of risk for our Company. Our Board of Directors regularly includes agenda items at its meetings
relating to its risk oversight role and meets with various members of management on a range of topics, including corporate governance
and regulatory obligations, operations and significant transactions, risk management, insurance, pending and threatened litigation and
significant commercial disputes.
While our Board of Directors is ultimately responsible
for risk oversight, various committees of our Board of Directors oversee risk management in their respective areas and regularly report
on their activities to our entire Board of Directors. In particular, the Audit Committee has the primary responsibility for the oversight
of financial risks facing our Company. The Audit Committee’s charter provides that it will discuss our major financial risk exposures
and the steps we have taken to monitor and control such exposures. Our Board of Directors has also delegated primary responsibility for
the oversight of all executive compensation and our employee benefit programs to the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee
strives to create incentives that encourage a level of risk-taking behavior consistent with our business strategy.
We believe the division of risk management responsibilities
described above is an effective approach for addressing the risks facing our Company and that our Board’s leadership structure provides
appropriate checks and balances against undue risk taking.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
Our Board of Directors has adopted a code of ethical
conduct that applies to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and senior financial management. This code of ethical
conduct is embodied within our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which applies to all persons associated with our Company, including
our directors, officers and employees (including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer
and controller). In order to satisfy our disclosure requirements under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K, we will disclose amendments to, or waivers
of, certain provisions of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics relating to our chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief
accounting officer, controller or persons performing similar functions on our website promptly following the adoption of any such amendment
or waiver. The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics provides that any waivers of, or changes to, the code that apply to the Company’s
executive officers or directors may be made only by the Audit Committee. In addition, the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics includes
updated procedures for non-executive officer employees to seek waivers of the code.
59
Director Independence
Our Company is governed by our Board. Currently,
each member of our Board, other than Dr. Edward Lee, Dr. Desheng Wang, and Dr. Jennifer Gu, is an independent director; and all standing
committees of our Board of Directors are composed entirely of independent directors, in each case under NASDAQ’s independence definition
applicable to boards of directors. For a director to be considered independent, our Board of Directors must determine that the director
has no relationship which, in the opinion of our Board, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the
responsibilities of a director. Members of the Audit Committee also must satisfy a separate SEC independence requirement, which provides
that they may not accept directly or indirectly any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee from us or any of our subsidiaries
other than their directors’ compensation. In addition, under SEC rules, an Audit Committee member who is an affiliate of the issuer
(other than through service as a director) cannot be deemed to be independent. In determining the independence of members of the Compensation
Committee, NASDAQ listing standards require our Board of Directors to consider certain factors, including, but not limited to: (1) the
source of compensation of the director, including any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee paid by us to the director, and (2)
whether the director is affiliated with us, one of our subsidiaries or an affiliate of one of our subsidiaries. Under our Compensation
Committee Charter, members of the Compensation Committee also must qualify as “outside directors” for purposes of Section
162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and as “non-employee directors” for purposes
of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act. The independent members of the Board of Directors are Michael Pope, Sheri Lofgren, Greg Butterfield,
and Carine Clark.
Item 11: EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Compensation of Officers
The following summary compensation table sets
forth information concerning compensation for services rendered in all capacities during 2021, and 2020 awarded to, earned by or paid
to our executive officers.
Summary Compensation
Table
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
Name and Principal
Salary
Bonus
Stock Awards
Option Awards
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation
Change in Pension Value & Non-qualified Deferred Compensation Earnings
All Other
Compensation
Totals
Position
Year
($)*
($)
($)
($)
(S)
($)
($)
($)
Desheng Wang
2021
124,615
0
0
0
0
0
0
124,615
CEO, Secretary and Director
2020
120,000
0
0
0
0
0
0
120,000
Duncan Lee
2021
21,700
0
0
0
0
0
0
21,700
Chief Financial Officer
2020
22,100
0
0
0
0
0
0
22,100
60
Narrative Disclosure Requirement for Summary Compensation Table
Compensation
Dr. Desheng Wang entered into an employment agreement
with the Company whereby the Company agreed to pay Dr. Wang a salary of $124,615 per year, payable monthly, for his services as Chief
Executive Officer, effective as of November 1, 2018. We have not provided our other named executive officers with perquisites or other
personal benefits. Duncan Lee was hired in April 2018 to serve as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Lee received $22,100 in compensation in
2020 and $21,700 in 2021. As of the date of this report, no other officer or director has formally entered into any compensation arrangement
for services provided under consulting agreements or employment agreements.
Retirement, Resignation or Termination Plans
We sponsor no plan, whether written or verbal,
that would provide compensation or benefits of any type to an executive upon retirement, or any plan that would provide payment for retirement,
resignation, or termination as a result of a change in control of our company or as a result of a change in the responsibilities of an
executive following a change in control of our company.
Directors’ Compensation
The persons who served as affiliated members of
our Board of Directors, including executive officers, did not receive any compensation for services as directors in 2020 or 2021. As of
the date of this report, no director has formally entered into any compensation arrangement for services provided under consulting agreements
or employment agreements.
As of the date of this annual report, all directors
have been issued 60,000 options per person pursuant to our 2018 Stock Option Plan and such options will vest over a period of one year.
In 2020 and 2021, all independent directors were paid $20,000 cash, except for Sheri Lofgren, who received $25,000 for serving as the
chair of the audit committee. Additionally, a company affiliated with Mr. Pope received $120,000 for advisory services in 2020, which
included $72,000 in cash and $48,000 in stock, and $120,000 for advisory services in 2021, which included $72,000 in cash and $48,000
in stock.
Option Exercises and Stock Vested
On December 17, 2018, the Company adopted the
2018 Stock Option Plan (the “2018 Stock Option Plan”) whereby the Company reserved for issuance 1,000,000 shares of common
stock and agreed that such shares shall, when issued and paid for in accordance with the provisions of the 2018 Stock Option Plan, constitute
validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable shares of common stock.
Pension Benefits and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation
The Company does not maintain any qualified retirement
plans or non-nonqualified deferred compensation plans for its employees or directors.
61
Executive Officer Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End
The following table provides certain information
concerning any common share purchase options, stock awards or equity incentive plan awards held by each of our named executive officers
that were outstanding as of December 31, 2021.
Option Awards
Stock Awards
Number
of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options
(#)
Number
of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options
(#)
Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Number
of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Unearned
Option
Exercise Price
Option
Expiration
Number
of
Shares
or
Units
of
Stock
That
Have
Not
Vested
Market
Value
of
Shares
or
Units
of
Stock
That
Have
Not
Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Number
of
Unearned
Shares,
Units
or
Other
Rights
That
Have
Not
Equity
Incentive
Plan
Awards:
Market
or
Payout
Value of
Unearned
Shares,
Units or
Other
Rights
That
Have Not
Name
Exercisable
Unexercisable
Options
(#)
($)
Date
(#)
Vested
Vested
Vested
Edward Lee - Chairman
30,000
–
–
$ 5.70
August
6, 2029
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
–
$ 3.00
December
10, 2030
–
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
$ 8.86
December
30, 2031
–
–
–
–
Desheng Wang - CEO, Secretary
30,000
–
–
$ 5.70
August
6, 2029
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
–
$ 3.00
December
10, 2030
–
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
$ 8.86
December
30, 2031
–
–
–
–
Duncan Lee - CFO
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Jennifer Gu
30,000
–
–
$ 5.70
August
6, 2029
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
–
$ 3.00
December
10, 2030
–
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
$ 8.86
December
30, 2031
–
–
–
–
Michael Pope
30,000
–
–
$ 5.70
August
6, 2029
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
–
$ 3.00
December
10, 2030
–
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
$ 8.86
December
30, 2031
–
–
–
–
Carine Clark
30,000
–
–
$ 5.70
August
6, 2029
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
–
$ 3.00
December
10, 2030
–
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
$ 8.86
December
30, 2031
–
–
–
–
Sheri Lofgren
30,000
–
–
$ 5.70
August
6, 2029
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
–
$ 3.00
December
10, 2030
–
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
$ 8.86
December
30, 2031
–
–
–
–
Greg Butterfield
30,000
–
–
$ 5.70
August
6, 2029
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
–
$ 3.00
December
10, 2030
–
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
$ 8.86
December
30, 2031
–
–
–
–
62
Item 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP
OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The following table sets forth certain information
regarding beneficial ownership of our common stock as of December 31, 2021: (i) by each of our directors, (ii) by each of the Named Executive
Officers, (iii) by all of our executive officers and directors as a group, and (iv) by each person or entity known by us to beneficially
own more than five percent (5%) of any class of our outstanding shares. As of December 31, 2021, there were 26,294,129 shares of our common
stock outstanding:
Title of Class
Name of Beneficial Owner
Amount and
Nature
of Beneficial
Ownership
(1)
Percentage of
Beneficial
Ownership
%
Common
Desheng Wang, CEO, and Director
14,393,700
33.273%
Common
Edward Lee, Chairman and Director jointly with Jennifer Gu, Director
8,276,000
19.131%
Common
Yan Chen
2,983,561
6.897%
Common
Michael Pope
55,907
(2)
*
Common
Duncan Lee
1,400
*
(1) Applicable percentage of ownership is based
on 43,259,741 shares of common stock outstanding on December 31, 2021.
(2) Shares held by a company affiliated with Mr. Pope
Percentage ownership is determined based on shares
owned together with securities exercisable or convertible into shares of common stock within 60 days of December 31, 2021, for each stockholder.
Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and generally includes voting or investment power with respect
to securities. Shares of common stock subject to securities exercisable or convertible into shares of common stock that are currently
exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of December 31, 2021, are deemed to be beneficially owned by the person holding such securities
for the purpose of computing the percentage of ownership of such person, but are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing
the percentage ownership of any other person. Our common stock is our only issued and outstanding class of securities eligible to vote.
As of December 31, 2021, there were 25,710,568
shares of common stock outstanding owned by our officers and directors.
Item 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS
AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Consulting services provided by the President,
Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were as follows:
For the
Year
Ended
December 31,
2021
For the
Year
Ended
December 31,
2020
President
$ 0
$ 0
Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Treasurer
124,615
120,000
Chief Financial Officer
21,700
22,100
$ 146,315
$ 142,100
63
Advances to (from) related party
Revenue generated from Vitashower Corp., a company
owned by the CEO’s wife, amounted to $29,084 and $26,449 for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Account receivable
balance due from Vitashower Corp. amounted to $15,176 and $0 as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Purchases generated from
Vitashower Corp. amounted to $3,379 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. There were accounts payable balances
of $0 and $17,371 due to Vitashower Corp. as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Director Independence
A director is not considered to be independent
if he or she is also an executive officer or employee of the corporation. Our director Edward Lee is also our Chairman; our director Desheng
Wang is also our Chief Executive Officer. The rest of our directors, excluding Jennifer Gu, are considered to be independent directors.
Item 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
During the year ended March 31, 2015, 2014, and
the period from December 4, 2012 (Inception) to March 31, 2013, we engaged Cutler & Co, LLC, as our independent auditor. On October
20, 2015, we changed our independent auditor to DYH & Company. On April 16, 2017, we changed our independent auditor to BF Borgers
CPA PC. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we incurred fees as discussed below:
Year ended
December 31,
2021
Year ended
December 31,
2020
Audit fees
$
128,000
$
106,598
Audit – related fees
$
Nil
$
Nil
Tax fees
$
Nil
$
Nil
All other fees
$
Nil
$
Nil
Audit fees consist of fees related to professional
services rendered in connection with the audit of our annual financial statements and review of our quarterly financial statements. Tax
fees represent fees related to preparation of our corporation income tax returns. Our policy is to pre-approve all audit and permissible
non-audit services performed by the independent accountants. These services may include audit services, audit-related services, tax services
and other services.
64
PART IV
Item 15. EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT NUMBER
DESCRIPTION
3.1
Articles of Incorporation , as filed with the SEC on
December 26, 2013.
3.2
Amended and Restated Bylaws, as filed with the SEC on October 22, 2019.
4.2
Subscription
Agreement, as filed with the SEC on December
26, 2013.
10.1
Form of Stock Purchase Agreement, as filed with the SEC on March 18, 2019.
10.2
Form of Secured Promissory Note, as filed with the SEC on March 18, 2019.
10.3
Form of Stock Pledge Agreement, as filed with the SEC on March 18, 2019.
10.4
Form of Subscription Agreement, as filed with the SEC on March 18, 2019.
10.5
Form of Consulting Agreement, as filed with the SEC on March 18, 2019.
10.7
2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as filed with the SEC on December 28, 2018.
10.8
Promissory
Note with Chase Bank, dated March 10, 2021 for $108,750 SBA Loan , as filed with the SEC on March 23, 2021.
10.9
Secured Promissory Note with East West Bank, dated January 8, 2021 for $1,500,000 ,
as filed with the SEC on March 23, 2021.
10.10
Loan Agreement with Golden Sunrise Investment LLC, dated March 15, 2021
for $1,500,000 , as filed with the SEC on March 23, 2021.
10.11
Company Guarantee Agreement with Golden Sunrise Investment LLC, dated March
15, 2021 , as filed with the SEC on March 23, 2021.
10.12
Secured Promissory Note with Golden Sunrise Investment LLC, dated March 15, 2021 for $1,500,000 ,
as filed with the SEC on March 23, 2021.
31.1
Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a), as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 . *
31.2
Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a), as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 . *
32.1
Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. *
32.2
Certification of the Chief Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 . *
101.INS
Inline XBRL Instance Document ( the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document)**
101.SCH
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document**
101.CAL
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document**
101.DEF
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document **
101.LAB
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document **
101.PRE
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document **
104
Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)
* Filed herewith.
** XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language)
information is furnished and not filed or a part of a registration statement or prospectus for purposes of Sections 11 or 12 of the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, is deemed not filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and otherwise
is not subject to liability under these sections.
Item 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY
None.
65
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or
15(d) 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.
Date: March 8, 2022
FOCUS UNIVERSAL INC.
By:
/s/ Desheng
Wang
Desheng Wang
Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, and Director
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and
on the dates indicated.
SIGNATURES
TITLE
DATE
/s/ Desheng Wang
Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Director
March 8, 2022
Desheng Wang
Focus Universal Inc., a Nevada corporation
/s/ Desheng Wang
By Desheng Wang,
its CEO
66
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.