Item 1A. Risk Factors
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Risks Relating to our Business
We may incur future losses and may be unable to maintain profitability.
We may incur net losses in the future. Our ability to achieve and sustain long-term profitability is largely dependent on our ability to successfully market and sell our products and services, control our costs, and effectively manage our growth. We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain profitability. In the event we fail to maintain profitability, our stock price could decline.
We cannot accurately forecast our future revenues and operating results, which may fluctuate.
Our operating history and the rapidly changing nature of the markets in which we compete make it difficult to accurately forecast our revenues and operating results. Furthermore, we expect our revenues and operating results to fluctuate in the future due to a number of factors, including the following:
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the timing of sales of our products and services;
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disruption to the Company’s customers and revenue, labor workforce, unavailability of products and supplies used in operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic
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the timing of product implementation, particularly large design projects;
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unexpected delays in introducing new products and services;
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increased expenses, whether related to sales and marketing, product development, or administration;
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the mix of product license and services revenue; and
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costs related to possible acquisitions of technology or businesses.
We may fail to develop new products or may incur unexpected expenses or delays.
Although we currently have fully developed products available for sale, we may need to develop various new technologies, products and product features and remain competitive. Due to the risks inherent in developing new products and technologies — limited financing, loss of key personnel, and other factors — we may fail to develop these technologies and products or may experience lengthy and costly delays in doing so. Although we license some of our technologies in their current stage of development, we cannot assure that we will be able to develop new products or enhancements to our existing products in order to remain competitive.
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We may need additional financing which we may not be able to obtain on acceptable terms. If we are unable to raise additional capital, as needed, the future growth of our business and operations could be severely limited.
A limiting factor on our growth is our limited capitalization, which could impact our ability to execute on our business plan. If we raise additional capital through the issuance of debt, this will result in increased interest expense. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership of the Company held by existing shareholders will be reduced and our shareholders may experience significant dilution. In addition, new securities may contain rights, preferences or privileges that are senior to those of our Common Stock. If additional funds are raised by the issuance of debt or other equity instruments, we may become subject to certain operational limitations (for example, negative operating covenants). There can be no assurance that acceptable financing necessary to further implement our business plan can be obtained on suitable terms, if at all. Our ability to develop our business, fund expansion, develop or enhance products or respond to competitive pressures, could suffer if we are unable to raise the additional funds on acceptable terms, which would have the effect of limiting our ability to increase our revenues or possibly attain profitable operations in the future.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control, we may not be able to report our financial results accurately or to reduce probability of fraud occurrence. Any inability to report and file our financial results accurately and timely could harm our reputation and adversely impact the trading price of our Common Stock.
Effective internal control is necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and prevent fraud. We may not be able to manage our business as effectively as we would if an effective control environment existed, and our business and reputation with investors may be harmed.
Management has concluded that the Company did maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on the criteria set forth in 2013 Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the COSO.
We may fail to recruit and retain qualified personnel.
We expect to rapidly expand our operations and grow our sales, development and administrative operations. Accordingly, recruiting and retaining such personnel in the future will be critical to our success. There is intense competition from other companies for qualified personnel in the areas of our activities, particularly sales, marketing and managed services. If we fail to identify, attract, retain and motivate these highly skilled personnel, we may be unable to continue our marketing and managed services activities and service our clients’ needs, and this could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects.
If our technologies and products contain defects or otherwise do not work as expected, we may incur significant expenses in attempting to correct these defects or in defending lawsuits over any such defects.
Software products are not currently accurate in every instance, and may never be. Furthermore, we could inadvertently release products and technologies that contain defects. In addition, third-party technology that we include in our products could contain defects. We may incur significant expenses to correct such defects. Clients who are not satisfied with our products or services could bring claims against us for substantial damages. Such claims could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and, if successful, could result in the plaintiffs being awarded significant damages. Our payment of any such expenses or damages could prevent us from becoming profitable.
Our success is highly dependent upon our ability to compete against competitors that have significantly greater resources than we have.
The ERP software, MSP and business consulting industries are highly competitive, and we believe that this competition will intensify. Many of our competitors have longer operating histories, significantly greater financial, technical, product development and marketing resources, greater name recognition and larger client bases than we do. Our competitors could use these resources to market or develop products or services that are more effective or less costly than any or all of our products or services or that could render any or all of our products or services obsolete. Our competitors could also use their economic strength to influence the market to continue to buy their existing products.
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If we are not able to protect our trade secrets through enforcement of our confidentiality and non-competition agreements, then we may not be able to compete effectively, and we may not be profitable.
We attempt to protect our trade secrets, including the processes, concepts, ideas and documentation associated with our technologies, through the use of confidentiality agreements and non-competition agreements with our current employees and with other parties to whom we have divulged such trade secrets. If the employees or other parties breach our confidentiality agreements and non-competition agreements or if these agreements are not sufficient to protect our technology or are found to be unenforceable, our competitors could acquire and use information that we consider to be our trade secrets and we may not be able to compete effectively. Some of our competitors have substantially greater financial, marketing, technical and manufacturing resources than we have, and we may not be profitable if our competitors are also able to take advantage of our trade secrets.
Our failure to secure trademark registrations could adversely affect our ability to market our product candidates and our business.
Our trademark applications in the United States and any other jurisdictions where we may file may be denied, and we may not be able to maintain or enforce our registered trademarks. During trademark registration proceedings, we may receive rejections. Although we are given an opportunity to respond to those rejections, we may be unable to overcome such rejections. In addition, with respect to the United States Patent and Trademark Office and any corresponding foreign agencies, third parties are given an opportunity to oppose pending trademark applications and to seek to cancel registered trademarks. Opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our applications and/or registrations, and our applications and/or registrations may not survive such proceedings. Failure to secure such trademark registrations in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions could adversely affect our ability to market our product candidates and our business.
We may unintentionally infringe on the proprietary rights of others.
Many lawsuits currently are being brought in the software industry alleging violation of intellectual property rights. Although we do not believe that we are infringing on any patent rights, patent holders may claim that we are doing so. Any such claim would likely be time-consuming and expensive to defend, particularly if we are unsuccessful, and could prevent us from selling our products or services. In addition, we may also be forced to enter into costly and burdensome royalty and licensing agreements.
Our industry is characterized by rapid technological change and failure to adapt our product development to these changes may cause our products to become obsolete.
We participate in a highly dynamic industry characterized by rapid change and uncertainty relating to new and emerging technologies and markets. Future technology or market changes may cause some of our products to become obsolete more quickly than expected.
The trend toward consolidation in our industry may impede our ability to compete effectively.
As consolidation in the software industry continues, fewer companies dominate particular markets, changing the nature of the market and potentially providing consumers with fewer choices. Also, many of these companies offer a broader range of products than us, ranging from desktop to enterprise solutions. We may not be able to compete effectively against these competitors. Furthermore, we may use strategic acquisitions, as necessary, to acquire technology, people and products for our overall product strategy. The trend toward consolidation in our industry may result in increased competition in acquiring these technologies, people or products, resulting in increased acquisition costs or the inability to acquire the desired technologies, people or products. Any of these changes may have a significant adverse effect on our future revenues and operating results.
We face intense price-based competition for licensing of our products which could reduce profit margins.
Price competition is often intense in the software market. Price competition may continue to increase and become even more significant in the future, resulting in reduced profit margins.
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The software and technology industry is highly competitive. If we cannot develop and market desirable products that the public is willing to purchase, we will not be able to compete successfully. Our business may be adversely affected, and we may not be able to generate any revenues.
We have many potential competitors in the software industry. We consider the competition to be competent, experienced, and may have greater financial and marketing resources than we do. Our ability to compete effectively may be adversely affected by the ability of these competitors to devote greater resources to the development, sales, and marketing of their products than are available to us. Some of the Company’s competitors, also, offer a wider range of software products, have greater name recognition and more extensive customer bases than the Company. These competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or changing opportunities, customer desires, as well as undertake more extensive promotional activities, offer terms that are more attractive to customers and adopt more aggressive pricing policies than the Company. We cannot provide any assurances that we will be able to compete successfully against present or future competitors or that the competitive pressure we may encounter will not force us to cease operations.
If there are events or circumstances affecting the reliability or security of the internet, access to our website and/or the ability to safeguard confidential information could be impaired causing a negative effect on the financial results of our business operations.
Despite the implementation of security measures, our website infrastructure may be vulnerable to computer viruses, hacking or similar disruptive problems caused by members, other internet users, other connected internet sites, and the interconnecting telecommunications networks. Such problems caused by third-parties could lead to interruptions, delays or cessation of service to our customers. Inappropriate use of the internet by third-parties could also potentially jeopardize the security of confidential information stored in our computer system, which may deter individuals from becoming customers. Such inappropriate use of the internet includes attempting to gain unauthorized access to information or systems, which is commonly known as “cracking” or “hacking.” Although we have implemented security measures, such measures have been circumvented in the past by hackers on other websites on the internet, although our networks have never been breached, and there can be no assurance that any measures we implement would not be circumvented in the future. Dealing with problems caused by computer viruses or other inappropriate uses or security breaches may require interruptions, delays or cessation of service to our customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we lose the services of any of our key personnel our business may suffer.
We are dependent on Mark Meller, our Chief Executive Officer, and other key employees in our operating subsidiary SWK. The loss of any of our key personnel could materially harm our business because of the cost and time necessary to retain and train a replacement. Such a loss would also divert management attention away from operational issues.
To service our debt obligations, we will require a significant amount of cash. Our ability to generate cash depends on many factors beyond our control. Any failure to repay our outstanding indebtedness as it matures, could materially adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and cash flows.
Our ability to satisfy our debt obligations and repay or refinance our maturing indebtedness will depend principally upon our future operating performance.
As a result, prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, legislative, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, will affect our ability to make payments on our debt. If we do not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to satisfy our debt service obligations, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as refinancing or restructuring our debt, incurring additional debt, issuing equity or convertible securities, reducing discretionary expenditures and selling certain assets (or combinations thereof). Our ability to execute such alternative financing plans will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. In addition, our ability to execute such alternative financing plans may be subject to certain restrictions under our existing indebtedness. Any refinancing of our debt could be at higher interest rates and may require us to comply with more onerous covenants compared to those associated with any debt that is being refinanced, which could further restrict our business operations. Our inability to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our debt obligations, or our inability to refinance our debt obligations on commercially reasonable terms or at all, would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and cash flows.
Computer Malware, Viruses, Hacking, Phishing Attacks and Spamming Could Harm Our Business and Results of Operations.
Computer malware, viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions could lead to interruption and delays in our services and operations and loss, misuse or theft of data. Computer malware, viruses, computer hacking and phishing attacks against online networking platforms have become more prevalent and may occur on our systems in the future.
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Any attempts by hackers to disrupt our website service or our internal systems, if successful, could harm our business, be expensive to remedy and damage our reputation or brand. Our network security business disruption insurance may not be sufficient to cover significant expenses and losses related to direct attacks on our website or internal systems. Efforts to prevent hackers from entering our computer systems are expensive to implement and may limit the functionality of our services. Though it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly result from any specific interruption or attack, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of our products and services and technical infrastructure may harm our reputation, brand and our ability to attract customers. Any significant disruption to our website or internal computer systems could result in a loss of customers and could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We have previously experienced, and may in the future experience, service disruptions, outages and other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, third-party service providers, human or software errors and capacity constraints. If our services are unavailable when customers attempt to access them or they do not load as quickly as they expect, customers may seek other services.
Some errors in our software code may only be discovered after the code has been deployed. Any errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities discovered in our code after deployment, inability to identify the cause or causes of performance problems within an acceptable period of time or difficultly maintaining and improving the performance of our platform, particularly during peak usage times, could result in damage to our reputation or brand, loss of revenues, or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our business and financial results.
We expect to continue to make significant investments to maintain and improve our software and to enable rapid releases of new features and products. To the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade our systems as needed and continually develop our technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, our business and operating results may be harmed.
We have a disaster recovery program to transition our operating platform and data to a failover location in the event of a catastrophe and have tested this capability under controlled circumstances, however, there are several factors ranging from human error to data corruption that could materially lengthen the time our platform is partially or fully unavailable to our user base as a result of the transition. If our platform is unavailable for a significant period of time as a result of such a transition, especially during peak periods, we could suffer damage to our reputation or brand, or loss of revenues any of which could adversely affect our business and financial results.
We Need to Manage Growth in Operations to Realize Our Growth Potential and Achieve Our Expected Revenues, and Our Failure to Manage Growth Will Cause a Disruption of Our Operations Resulting in the Failure to Generate Revenue and an Impairment of Our Long-Lived Assets.
In order to take advantage of the growth that we anticipate in our current and potential markets, we believe that we must expand our sales and marketing operations. This expansion will place a significant strain on our management and our operational, accounting, and information systems. We expect that we will need to continue to improve our financial controls, operating procedures and management information systems. We will also need to effectively train, motivate and manage our employees. Our failure to manage our growth could disrupt our operations and ultimately prevent us from generating the revenues we expect.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned targets, the general strategies of our Company are to maintain and search for hard-working employees who are innovative and creative, as well as to keep a close eye on expansion opportunities through merger and/or acquisition.
There is a risk associated with COVID-19
The Company’s operations may be affected by the recent and ongoing outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which in March 2020, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The ultimate disruption which may be caused by the outbreak is uncertain; however, it may result in a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial position, operations and cash flows. Possible areas that may be affected include, but are not limited to, disruption to the Company’s customers and revenue, labor workforce, inability of customers to pay outstanding accounts receivable due and owing to the Company as they limit or shut down their businesses, customers seeking relief or extended payment plans relating to accounts receivable due and owing to the Company, unavailability of products and supplies used in operations, and the decline in value of assets held by the Company, including property and equipment.
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We Face Risks Arising from Acquisitions.
We may pursue strategic acquisitions in the future. Risks in acquisition transactions include difficulties in the integration of acquired assets into our operations and control environment, difficulties in assimilating and retaining employees and intermediaries, difficulties in retaining the existing clients of the acquired entities, assumed or unforeseen liabilities that arise in connection with the acquired assets or businesses, the failure of counterparties to satisfy any obligations to indemnify us against liabilities arising from the acquired assets or businesses, and unfavorable market conditions that could negatively impact our growth expectations for the acquired assets or businesses. Fully integrating an acquired company or business into our operations may take a significant amount of time. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in overcoming these risks or any other problems encountered with acquisitions and other strategic transactions. These risks may prevent us from realizing the expected benefits from acquisitions and could result in the failure to realize the full economic value of a strategic transaction or the impairment of goodwill and/or intangible assets recognized at the time of an acquisition. These risks could be heightened if we complete a large acquisition or multiple acquisitions within a short period of time.
Risks Relating to the Proposed Mergers
There are significant risks associated with the proposed Mergers and the business of Rhodium including the following:
• The value of the shares of SilverSun Class A common stock may decrease following the Mergers.
• The SilverSun Legacy Stockholders will have a significantly reduced ownership and voting interest in SilverSun after the Mergers and will exercise minimal influence over management of the combined company.
• The SilverSun Legacy Stockholders may not realize the value being attributed to their retained SilverSun shares as the result of the Mergers.
• The Mergers are subject to a number of conditions, some of which are beyond the control of the parties to the Merger Agreement.
• The Merger Agreement limits SilverSun’s ability to pursue an alternative acquisition proposal and requires SilverSun to pay a termination fee of $5,000,000 if it does.
• The Mergers will result in Imperium, which is currently Rhodium’s largest and controlling owner and is controlled by Chase Blackmon, Nicholas Cerasuolo and Cameron Blackmon, holding a substantial portion of the common stock of the combined company, with the right to appoint a portion of the combined company board, and its interests may conflict with those of other stockholders.
• The absence of a historical trading market for Rhodium Class A common stock creates uncertainty about future trading prices of the SilverSun Class A common stock following the Mergers.
• Rhodium is subject to a highly evolving regulatory landscape and any adverse changes to, or its failure to comply with, any laws and regulations could adversely affect its business, prospects or operations.
• It may be illegal now, or in the future, to acquire, own, hold, sell or use Bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies, participate in blockchains or utilize similar cryptocurrency assets in one or more countries, the ruling of which would adversely affect Rhodium.
• Rhodium is subject to risks associated with its need for significant electrical power. Government regulators may potentially restrict the ability of electricity suppliers to provide electricity to Bitcoin mining operations, such as Rhodium’s.
• While the Mergers are pending, Rhodium will be subject to business uncertainties and contractual restrictions that could adversely affect its business.
• Rhodium’s operations are subject to power risk related to power supply, electricity pricing volatility and hosting services. Rhodium does not have fixed electricity pricing at its Temple Site and there is a risk that it may not have a fixed electricity price at this site.
• Rhodium’s Rockdale Site is subject to access risks which could create a risk of avoidable downtime due to the inability to perform maintenance or make repairs when needed, and a risk of avoidable damage to equipment for the same reason.
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• While the Mergers are pending, Rhodium may seek to raise additional funds, finance additional acquisitions or develop strategic relationships by issuing additional securities, including capital stock.
• The combined company post-Closing management team has limited experience managing a public company.
• Rhodium’s colocation hosting services agreement and its ability to commence or continue its operations at its Rockdale Site is dependent on leases between third parties.
• The Rockdale Site where Rhodium is currently conducting operations is subject to possible environmental risks.
• Rhodium’s mining operations will be heavily dependent on a continuous supply of large amounts of electricity to both the Rockdale and Temple Sites which is subject to disruption. Any such disruptions could result in disruption to Rhodium’s mining operations and affect Rhodium’s ability to operate efficiently and profitably.
• Disruption of high-speed broad-band Internet access to the Rockdale Site and/or Temple Site will result in disruption to Rhodium’s mining operations and affect Rhodium’s ability to operate efficiently and profitably.
• There is a risk that Rhodium will not secure the funds necessary to finance its operations or future purchases of Bitcoin mining equipment from its suppliers.
• Rhodium is subject to ongoing litigation matters and may become subject to other disputes, including other intellectual property disputes, which are costly and may subject Rhodium to significant liability and increased costs of doing business.
• Future developments regarding the treatment of Bitcoin for U.S. federal income and foreign tax purposes could adversely affect Rhodium.
• Rhodium does not presently have the funds required to fulfill its business plan.
• The market and price for Bitcoin generated by Rhodium can be highly volatile, which may reduce revenues and net income.
Risks Related to Our Securities
The market price of our common stock is likely to be volatile and could subject us to litigation.
The market price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be subject to wide fluctuations. Factors affecting the market price of our common stock include:
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variations in our operating results, earnings per share, cash flows from operating activities, deferred revenue, and other financial metrics and non-financial metrics, and how those results compare to analyst expectations;
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issuances of new stock which dilutes earnings per share;
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forward looking guidance to industry and financial analysts related to future revenue and earnings per share;
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the net increases in the number of customers and customers paying subscriptions, either independently or as compared with published expectations of industry, financial or other analysts that cover our company;
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changes in the estimates of our operating results or changes in recommendations by securities analysts that elect to follow our common stock;
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announcements of technological innovations, new services or service enhancements, strategic alliances or significant agreements by us or by our competitors;
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announcements by us or by our competitors of mergers or other strategic acquisitions, or rumors of such transactions involving us or our competitors;
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announcements of customer additions and customer cancellations or delays in customer purchases;
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recruitment or departure of key personnel;
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trading activity by a limited number of stockholders who together beneficially own a majority of our outstanding common stock.
In addition, if the stock market in general experiences uneven investor confidence, the market price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, operating results or financial condition. The market price of our common stock might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies within, or outside, our industries even if these events do not directly affect us. Some companies that have experienced volatility in the trading price of their stock have been the subject of securities class action litigation. If we are to become the subject of such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources.
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We currently have a limited trading volume, which results in higher price volatility for, and reduced liquidity of, our common stock.
There has been limited trading of our common stock since we began trading on the NASDAQ Capital Market in April 2017, meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing our common stock at or near ask prices at any given time may be relatively small or non-existent. This situation is attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a smaller reporting company that is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stockbrokers, institutional investors and others in the investment community who generate or influence sales volume. Even in the event that we come to the attention of such persons, they would likely be reluctant to follow an unproven company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase of our shares until such time as we become more seasoned and viable. As a consequence, our stock price may not reflect an actual or perceived value. Also, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity in our shares is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer that has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on share price. A broader or more active public trading market for our common shares may not develop or if developed, may not be sustained. Due to these conditions, you may not be able to sell your shares at or near ask prices or at all if you need money or otherwise desire to liquidate your shares.
Although our shares have been approved for listing on the NASDAQ Capital Market, our shares may be subject to potential delisting if we do not meet or continue to maintain the listing requirements of the NASDAQ Capital Market.
Our shares have been approved for and are currently trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”); however Nasdaq has rules for continued listing, including, without limitation, minimum market capitalization and other requirements. Failure to maintain our listing, or delisting from Nasdaq, would make it more difficult for shareholders to dispose of our common stock and more difficult to obtain accurate price quotations on our common stock. This could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Our ability to issue additional securities for financing or other purposes, or otherwise to arrange for any financing we may need in the future, may also be materially and adversely affected if our common stock is not traded on a national securities exchange.
In order to raise sufficient funds to expand our operations, we may have to issue additional securities at prices which may result in substantial dilution to our shareholders.
If we raise additional funds through the sale of equity or convertible debt, our current stockholders’ percentage ownership will be reduced. In addition, these transactions may dilute the value of our common shares outstanding. We may also have to issue securities that may have rights, preferences and privileges senior to our common stock.
Possible adverse effect of issuance of preferred stock.
Our Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, of which all shares are available for issuance, with designations, rights and preferences as determined from time to time by the Board of Directors. As a result of the foregoing, the Board of Directors can issue, without further shareholder approval, preferred stock with dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting or other rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of Common Stock. The issuance of preferred stock could, under certain circumstances, discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of the Company.
Our stock price could fall and we could be delisted from the NASDAQ in which case U.S. Broker-Dealers may be discouraged from effecting transactions in shares of our common stock because they may be considered penny stocks and thus be subject to the penny stock rules.
The SEC has adopted a number of rules to regulate “penny stock” that restricts transactions involving stock which is deemed to be penny stock. Such rules include Rules 3a51-1, 15g-1, 15g-2, 15g-3, 15g-4, 15g-5, 15g-6, 15g-7, and 15g-9 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These rules may have the effect of reducing the liquidity of penny stocks. “Penny stocks” generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00 per share (other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or quoted on the NASDAQ Stock Market if current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system). Our securities have in the past constituted, and may again in the future constitute, “penny stock” within the meaning of the rules. The additional sales practice and disclosure requirements imposed upon U.S. broker-dealers may discourage such broker-dealers from effecting transactions in shares of our common stock, which could severely limit the market liquidity of such shares and impede their sale in the secondary market.
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A U.S. broker-dealer selling penny stock to anyone other than an established customer or “accredited investor” (generally, an individual with net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or an annual income exceeding $200,000, or $300,000 together with his or her spouse) must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and must receive the purchaser’s written consent to the transaction prior to sale, unless the broker-dealer or the transaction is otherwise exempt. In addition, the “penny stock” regulations require the U.S. broker-dealer to deliver, prior to any transaction involving a “penny stock”, a disclosure schedule prepared in accordance with SEC standards relating to the “penny stock” market, unless the broker-dealer or the transaction is otherwise exempt. A U.S. broker-dealer is also required to disclose commissions payable to the U.S. broker-dealer and the registered representative and current quotations for the securities. Finally, a U.S. broker-dealer is required to submit monthly statements disclosing recent price information with respect to the “penny stock” held in a customer’s account and information with respect to the limited market in “penny stocks”.
Stockholders should be aware that, according to SEC, the market for “penny stocks” has suffered in recent years from patterns of fraud and abuse. Such patterns include (i) control of the market for the security by one or a few broker-dealers that are often related to the promoter or issuer; (ii) manipulation of prices through prearranged matching of purchases and sales and false and misleading press releases; (iii) “boiler room” practices involving high-pressure sales tactics and unrealistic price projections by inexperienced sales persons; (iv) excessive and undisclosed bid-ask differentials and markups by selling broker-dealers; and (v) the wholesale dumping of the same securities by promoters and broker-dealers after prices have been manipulated to a desired level, resulting in investor losses. Our management is aware of the abuses that have occurred historically in the penny stock market. Although we do not expect to be in a position to dictate the behavior of the market or of broker-dealers who participate in the market, management will strive within the confines of practical limitations to prevent the described patterns from being established with respect to our securities.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.