Propanc Biopharma, Inc. 10-Q

Item 4. Controls and Procedures. Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that are designed to reasonably ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure based closely on the definition of “disclosure controls and procedures” in Rule 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, our management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. At the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report, we conducted an evaluation (the “Evaluation”), under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon the foregoing, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of September 30, 2020, the disclosure controls and procedures of our Company were not effective to ensure that the information required to be disclosed in our Exchange Act reports was recorded, processed, summarized and reported on a timely basis because of the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting described below. Material Weaknesses and Corrective Actions In connection with the audits of our financial statements for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, we identified certain deficiencies relating to our internal control over financial reporting that constitute a material weakness under standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”). The PCAOB defines a material weakness as a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on a timely basis. The following material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting continued to exist at September 30, 2020: ● we do not have written documentation of our internal control policies and procedures. Written documentation of key internal controls over financial reporting is a requirement of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”); ● we do not have sufficient segregation of duties within accounting functions, which is a basic internal control. Due to our limited size and early stage nature of operations, segregation of all conflicting duties may not always be possible and may not be economically feasible; however, to the extent possible, the initiation of transactions, the custody of assets and the recording of transactions should be performed by separate individuals; ● lack of audit committee of our board of directors; and ● insufficient monitoring and review controls over the financial reporting closing process, including the lack of individuals with current knowledge of U.S. GAAP. We believe that these material weaknesses primarily relate, in part, to our lack of sufficient staff with appropriate training in U.S. GAAP and SEC rules and regulations with respect to financial reporting functions, and the lack of robust accounting systems, as well as the lack of sufficient resources to hire such staff and implement these accounting systems. Subject to raising sufficient additional capital, we plan to take a number of actions in the future to correct these material weaknesses including, but not limited to, establishing an audit committee of our board of directors comprised of at least two independent directors, adding experienced accounting and financial personnel and retaining third-party consultants to review our internal controls and recommend improvements. We will need to take additional measures to fully mitigate these issues, and the measures we have taken, and expect to take, to improve our internal controls may not be sufficient to (1) address the issues identified, (2) ensure that our internal controls are effective or (3) ensure that the identified material weakness or other material weaknesses will not result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In addition, other material weaknesses may be identified in the future. If we are unable to correct deficiencies in internal controls in a timely manner, our ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information accurately and within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC will be adversely affected. This failure could negatively affect the market price and trading liquidity of our common stock, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, subject us to civil and criminal investigations and penalties, and generally materially and adversely impact our business and financial condition. Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that management is required to apply judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs. 10 Changes in Internal Controls over Financial Reporting There were no changes in our internal controls over financial reporting that occurred during the quarter ended September 30, 2020 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal controls over financial reporting. PART II — OTHER INFORMATION