Aptorum Group Ltd
17 Hanover Square
London W1S 1BN, United Kingdom
January 9, 2023
VIA EDGAR
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Division of Corporation Finance
Office of Life Sciences
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20549
| Attn: | Tracie Mariner |
| Kevin Vaughn |
| Re: |
Aptorum Group Ltd Response Dated December 28, 2022 File No. 001-38764 |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Aptorum Group Ltd (the “Company”, “APM,” “we”, “us” or “our”) hereby transmits its response to the letter received from the staff (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), dated January 5, 2023 regarding our Form 20-F for fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. For ease of reference, we have repeated the Commission’s comments in this response and numbered them accordingly.
Response Dated December 28, 2022
Item 3.D. Risk Factors, page 1
| 1. | We note your response to comment 2 and reissue in part. Please revise your risk factors section to state the VIEs conduct operations in Hong Kong consistent with your narrative disclosure in response to comment 2 where you state, "[a]ll three VIEs are incorporated under the laws of Cayman Islands and conduct operations in Hong Kong." |
Response: In response to this comment, we revised the risk factor from our response dated December 28, 2022 (the “Prior Response”) as follows (revisions in italic, other than the risk factor headers):
Our business, financial condition and results of operations, and/or the value of our Class A Ordinary Shares or our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors may be materially and adversely affected to the extent the laws and regulations of the PRC become applicable to a company such as us.
We currently do not have or intend to have any subsidiary or any contractual arrangement to establish a variable interest entity structure with any entity in mainland China. All of our operating entities are in jurisdictions outside of mainland China, including all three of our VIEs which are incorporated under the laws of Cayman Islands and conduct operations in Hong Kong. However, as our principal place of business is in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, there is no guarantee that if certain existing or future laws of the PRC become applicable to a company such as us, it will not have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations and/or our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors, any of which may cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless.
Except for the Basic Law, the national laws of the PRC do not apply in Hong Kong unless they are listed in Annex III of the Basic Law and applied locally by promulgation or local legislation. National laws that may be listed in Annex III are currently limited under the Basic Law to those which fall within the scope of defense and foreign affairs as well as other matters outside the limits of the autonomy of Hong Kong. National laws and regulations relating to data protection, cybersecurity and anti-monopoly have not been listed in Annex III and so do not apply directly to Hong Kong.
The laws and regulations in the PRC are evolving, and their enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation involve significant uncertainties. To the extent any PRC laws and regulations become applicable to us, we may be subject to the risks and uncertainties associated with the legal system in the PRC, including with respect to the enforcement of laws and the possibility of changes of rules and regulations with little or no advance notice. We currently do not have plan to expand our operation or acquire any operation in the mainland China. However, we may also become subject to the laws and regulations of the PRC to the extent we commence business and customer facing operations in mainland China as a result of any future acquisition, expansion or organic growth.
The PRC government exerts substantial influence and discretion over the manner in which companies incorporated under the laws of PRC must conduct their business activities. We have business operations in Hong Kong but not in in mainland China. However, if we were to become subject to such direct influence or discretion, it may result in a material change in our operations and/or the value of our Class A Ordinary Shares, which would materially affect the interest of the investors.
The PRC legal system is evolving rapidly and the PRC laws, regulations, and rules may change quickly with little advance notice. In particular, because these laws, rules and regulations are relatively new, and because of the limited number of published decisions and the non-precedential nature of these decisions, the interpretation of these laws, rules and regulations may contain inconsistences, the enforcement of which involves uncertainties. The PRC government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over many sectors of the PRC economy through regulation and/or state ownership. Government actions have had, and may continue to have, a significant effect on economic conditions in the PRC and businesses which are subject to such government actions.
We have business operations in Hong Kong, but not in mainland China, and we directly, or indirectly via our subsidiaries, own equity interests in our operating entities, none of which are located in mainland China, although all three of our VIEs are incorporated under the laws of Cayman Islands and conduct operations in Hong Kong. Our principal executive offices are located in Europe, but our principal place of business is in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The PRC government currently does not exert direct influence and discretion over the manner in which we conduct our business activities outside of mainland China, however, there is no guarantee that we will not be subject to such direct influence or discretion in the future due to changes in laws or other unforeseeable reasons or as a result of our future expansion or acquisition of operations in mainland China. See “- Our business, financial condition and results of operations, and/or the value of our Class A Ordinary Shares or our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors may be materially and adversely affected to the extent the laws and regulations of the PRC become applicable to a company such as us.”
We currently do not have plans to expand our operation or acquire any operation in the mainland China. However, if we were to become subject to the direct intervention or influence of the PRC government at any time due to changes in laws or other unforeseeable reasons or as a result of our future development, expansion or acquisition of operations in the PRC, it may require a material change in our operations and/or result in increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. In addition, the market prices of our Class A Ordinary Shares could be adversely affected as a result of anticipated negative impacts of any such government actions, as well as negative investor sentiment towards Hong Kong-based companies subject to direct PRC government oversight and regulation, regardless of our actual operating performance. There can be no assurance that the Chinese government would not intervene in or influence our operations at any time.
We were not required to obtain permission from the PRC government to list on a U.S. securities exchange, however there is no guarantee that this will continue to be the case in the future in relation to the continued listing of our securities on a securities exchange outside of the PRC, or even when such permission is obtained, it will not be subsequently denied or rescinded. Any actions by the PRC government to exert more oversight and control over offerings (including of businesses whose primary operations are in Hong Kong) that are conducted overseas and/or foreign investments in Hong Kong-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of our securities, including our Class A Ordinary Shares, to significantly decline or be worthless.
Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure
We may not be able to consolidate the financial results of some of our affiliated companies or such consolidation could materially adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
The Company has three VIEs which are incorporated under the laws of Cayman Islands and conduct operations in Hong Kong. The Company currently consolidates two of those VIEs since the Group has a variable interest in them and is determined to be the primary beneficiary of those 2 VIES under the U.S. GAPP. This determination is based on whether the Group has a variable interest (or combination of variable interests) that provides the Company with (a) the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the VIEs’ economic performance and (b) the obligation to absorb losses or right to receive benefits that could be potentially significant to the VIE. The Group continually reassesses whether it is the primary beneficiary of a VIE throughout the entire period the Group is involved with the VIE. According to those standards, we determined that we have the power to manage and make decisions that affect Mios and Scipio’s research and development activities, which activities most significantly impact Mios and Scipio’s economic performance. However, we do not have such power over Libra’s research and development activities, which activities most significantly impact Libra’s economic performance. Accordingly, we determined that we are the primary beneficiary of Mios and Scipio, but not the primary beneficiary of Libra. As a result, Mios and Scipio’s financial results are consolidated in our consolidated financial statements. In the event that in the future the VIEs no longer meet the definition of a VIE, or we are deemed not to be the primary beneficiary of the VIE for accounting purpose, we would not be able to consolidate line by line that VIE’s financial results in our consolidated financial statements. Also, if in the future an affiliate company becomes a VIE and we become the primary beneficiary of it for accounting purposes, we would be required to consolidate that entity’s financial results in our consolidated financial statements. If such entity’s financial results were negative, this could have a corresponding negative impact on our operating results.
| 2. | Please revise throughout where you discuss the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the "HFCA Act") to reflect the HFCA Act timeline for a potential trading prohibition was shortened from three years to two years, as part of the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023," signed into law on December 29, 2022. |
Response: In response to this comment, we shall revise the disclosure in our annual report on Form 20-F for fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 filed on April 29, 2022 and disclosure from our Prior Response as follows (revisions in italics, other than the risk factor headers):
If the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, is unable to inspect our auditors as required under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, the SEC will prohibit the trading of our Class A Ordinary Shares. A trading prohibition for our Class A Ordinary Shares, or the threat of a trading prohibition, may materially and adversely affect the value of your investment. Additionally, the inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of our auditors would deprive our investors of the benefits of such inspections
The U.S. Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCA Act, was enacted into law on December 18, 2020. Under the HFCA Act, if the SEC determines that we have filed audit reports issued by a registered public accounting firm that has not been subject to inspection by the PCAOB for three consecutive years (beginning with this annual report on Form 20-F), the SEC will prohibit our securities, including our Class A Ordinary Shares, from being traded on a U.S. national securities exchange, including NASDAQ, or in the over-the-counter trading market in the U.S. Furthermore, on June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (the “AHFCAA”), which, if signed into law, would amend the HFCA Act and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to the PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three consecutive years. On September 22, 2021, the PCAOB adopted a final rule implementing the HFCA Act, which provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCA Act, whether the Board is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction. On November 5, 2021, the SEC approved the PCAOB’s Rule 6100, Board Determinations Under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. Rule 6100 provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCA Act, whether it is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction. On December 2, 2021, the SEC issued amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the HFCA Act. The rules apply to registrants that the SEC identifies as having filed an annual report with an audit report issued by a registered public accounting firm that is located in a foreign jurisdiction and that PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in foreign jurisdictions. The process for implementing trading prohibitions pursuant to the HFCA Acts will be based on a list of registered public accounting firms that the PCAOB has been unable to inspect and investigate completely as a result of a position taken by a non-U.S. government, or the Relevant Jurisdiction, and such identified auditors, the PCAOB Identified Firms. The first list of PCAOB Identified Firms was included in a release by the PCAOB on December 16, 2021, or the PCAOB December 2021 Release. The SEC will review annual reports filed with it for fiscal years beginning after December 18, 2020 to determine if the auditor used for such reports was so identified by the PCAOB, and such issuers will be designated as “Commission Identified Issuers” on a list to be published by the SEC. If an issuer is a Commission Identified Issuer for two consecutive years (which will be determined after the second such annual report), the SEC will issue a trading order that will implement prohibitions described above. On December 29, 2022, a legislation entitled “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023” (the “Consolidated Appropriations Act”), was signed into law by President Biden. The Consolidated Appropriations Act contained, among other things, an identical provision to AHFCAA, which reduce the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the HFCA Act from three years to two.
Our current independent accounting firm, Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP, whose audit report is included in this annual report on Form 20-F, is headquartered in Manhattan, New York, and was not included in the list of PCAOB Identified Firms in the PCAOB December Release. Our ability to retain an auditor subject to PCAOB inspection and investigation, including but not limited to inspection of the audit working papers related to us, may depend on the relevant positions of U.S. and Chinese regulators. Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP’s audit working papers related to us are located in China. With respect to audits of companies with operations in China, such as the Company, there are uncertainties about the ability of our auditor to fully cooperate with a request by the PCAOB for audit working papers in China without the approval of Chinese authorities. If in the future Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP is included in the list of PCAOB Identified Firms and we are unable to retain a PCAOB-registered auditor subject to PCAOB inspection and investigation, a trading prohibition for our Class A Ordinary Shares could be issued shortly after our filing of the second consecutive annual report on Form 20-F for which we have retained a PCAOB Identified Firm.
If our Class A Ordinary Shares are subject to a trading prohibition under the HFCA Act, the price of our Class A Ordinary Shares may be adversely affected, and the threat of such a trading prohibition would also adversely affect their price. If we are unable to be listed on another securities exchange that provides sufficient liquidity, such a trading prohibition may substantially impair your ability to sell or purchase our Class A Ordinary Shares when you wish to do so. Furthermore, if we are able to maintain a listing of our Class A Ordinary Shares on a non-U.S. exchange, investors owning our Class A Ordinary Shares may have to take additional steps to engage in transactions on that exchange, including establishing non-U.S. brokerage accounts.
The HFCA Act also imposes additional certification and disclosure requirements for Commission Identified Issuers, and these requirements apply to issuers in the year following their listing as Commission Identified Issuers. The additional requirements include a certification that the issuer is not owned or controlled by a governmental entity in the Relevant Jurisdiction, and the additional requirements for annual reports include disclosure that the issuer’s financials were audited by a firm not subject to PCAOB inspection, disclosure on governmental entities in the Relevant Jurisdiction’s ownership in and controlling financial interest in the issuer, the names of Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, members on the board of the issuer or its operating entities, and whether the issuer’s article’s include a charter of the CCP, including the text of such charter.
In addition to the issues under the HFCA discussed above, the PCAOB’s inability to conduct inspections in China and Hong Kong prevents it from fully evaluating the audits and quality control procedures of the independent registered public accounting firm, consequently, investors would be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. Our current independent registered public accounting firm, Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk LLP, is headquartered in Manhattan, New York, and has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis with the last inspection in 2020. However, in the event it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely our auditor because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, then such lack of inspection could cause trading in our securities to be prohibited under the HFCA Act, and ultimately result in a determination by a securities exchange to delist our Class A Ordinary Shares.
The recent joint statement by the SEC, proposed rule changes submitted by Nasdaq, and an act passed by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, all call for additional and more stringent criteria to be applied to emerging market companies. These developments could add uncertainties to our offering, business operations, share price and reputation.
U.S. public companies that have substantially all of their operations in China and Hong Kong have been the subject of intense scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity by investors, financial commentators and regulatory agencies, such as the SEC. Much of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity has centered on financial and accounting irregularities and mistakes, a lack of effective internal controls over financial accounting, inadequate corporate governance policies or a lack of adherence thereto and, in many cases, allegations of fraud.
On April 21, 2020, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and PCAOB Chairman William D. Duhnke III, along with other senior SEC staff, released a joint statement highlighting the risks associated with investing in companies based in or have substantial operations in emerging markets including China, including Hong Kong, reiterating past SEC and PCAOB statements on matters including the difficulty associated with inspecting accounting firms and audit work papers in China and Hong Kong and higher risks of fraud in emerging markets and the difficulty of bringing and enforcing SEC, Department of Justice and other U.S. regulatory actions, including in instances of fraud, in emerging markets generally.
On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the HFCA Act requiring a foreign company to certify it is not owned or controlled by a foreign government if the PCAOB is unable to audit specified reports because the company uses a foreign auditor not subject to PCAOB inspection. If the PCAOB is unable to inspect the company’s auditors for three consecutive years, the issuer’s securities are prohibited to trade on a national exchange. On December 2, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the HFCA Act.
On May 21, 2021, Nasdaq filed three proposals with the SEC to (i) apply minimum offering size requirement for companies primarily operating in a “Restrictive Market”, (ii) prohibit Restrictive Market companies from directly listing on Nasdaq Capital Market, and only permit them to list on Nasdaq Global Select or Nasdaq Global Market in connection with a direct listing and (iii) apply additional and more stringent criteria to an applicant or listed company based on the qualifications of the company’s auditors.
On March 24, 2021, the SEC announced the adoption of interim final amendments to implement the submission and disclosure requirements of the HFCA Act. In the announcement, the SEC clarifies that before any issuer will have to comply with the interim final amendments, the SEC must implement a process for identifying covered issuers. The announcement also states that the SEC staff is actively assessing how best to implement the other requirements of the HFCA Act, including the identification process and the trading prohibition requirements.
On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the AHFCAA, which, if signed into law, would amend the HFCA Act and require the SEC to prohibit an issuer’s securities from trading on any U.S. stock exchanges if its auditor is not subject to the PCAOB inspections for two consecutive years instead of three consecutive years.
On September 22, 2021, the PCAOB adopted a final rule implementing the HFCA Act, which provides a framework for the PCAOB to use when determining, as contemplated under the HFCA Act, whether the board of directors of a company is unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms located in a foreign jurisdiction because of a position taken by one or more authorities in that jurisdiction.
On December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the HFCA Act.
On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB issued a report on its determinations that it is unable to inspect or investigate completely PCAOB-registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and in Hong Kong because of positions taken by PRC and Hong Kong authorities in those jurisdictions.
On December 29, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law by President Biden. The Consolidated Appropriations Act contained, among other things, an identical provision to AHFCAA, which reduce the number of consecutive non-inspection years required for triggering the prohibitions under the HFCA Act from three years to two.
The lack of access to the PCAOB inspection in China prevents the PCAOB from fully evaluating audits and quality control procedures of the auditors based in China. As a result, investors may be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these accounting firm’s audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections, which could cause investors and potential investors in our Class A Ordinary Shares to lose confidence in our audit procedures and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements.
Our auditor, Marcum Asia CPAs LLP, as the auditor of companies that are traded publicly in the U.S. and firms registered with the PCAOB, are subject to laws in the U.S., pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess their compliance with the applicable professional standards. Marcum Asia CPAs LLP is headquartered in Manhattan, New York, and have been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis, with the last inspections in 2020, and Marcum Asia CPAs LLP is not subject to the determinations announced by the PCAOB on December 16, 2021.
However, the recent developments would add uncertainties to our ability to offer or continue to offer securities and we cannot assure you whether the national securities exchange we apply to for listing or regulatory authorities would apply additional and more stringent criteria to us after considering the effectiveness of our auditor’s audit procedures and quality control procedures, adequacy of personnel and training, or sufficiency of resources, geographic reach, or experience as it relates to our audit. In addition, the HFCA Act, as amended, which requires that the PCAOB be permitted to inspect an issuer’s public accounting firm within two years, may result in the delisting of our Company or prohibition of trading in our Class A Ordinary Shares in the future if the PCAOB is unable to inspect our accounting firm at such future time.
On August 26, 2022, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the MOF, and the PCAOB signed the Protocol governing inspections and investigations of audit firms based in mainland China and Hong Kong, taking the first step toward opening access for the PCAOB to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong. Pursuant to the fact sheet with respect to the Protocol disclosed by the SEC, the PCAOB shall have independent discretion to select any issuer audits for inspection or investigation and has the unfettered ability to transfer information to the SEC. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB Board determined that the PCAOB was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate its previous determinations to the contrary. However, should PRC authorities obstruct or otherwise fail to facilitate the PCAOB’s access in the future, the PCAOB Board will consider the need to issue a new determination.
As a result of this scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity, the publicly traded stock of many U.S. listed Chinese and Hong Kong companies sharply decreased in value and, in some cases, has become virtually worthless. Many of these companies are now subject to shareholder lawsuits and SEC enforcement actions and are conducting internal and external investigations into the allegations. It is not clear what effect this sector-wide scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity will have on us, our ability to offer or continue to offer securities, business and our share price. If we become the subject of any unfavorable allegations, whether such allegations are proven to be true or untrue, we will have to expend significant resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend our company. This situation will be costly and time consuming and distract our management from developing our growth. If such allegations are not proven to be groundless, we and our business operations will be severely affected and you could sustain a significant decline in the value of our share.
We shall also add the following disclosure in the Item 4 – Information on the Company – Business Overview of our Form 20-F:
In addition, our Class A Ordinary Shares may be prohibited from trading on a national exchange or over-the-counter under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, as amended (the “HFCA Act”) if the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”) is unable to inspect our auditors for two consecutive years beginning in 2021. Our auditor, Marcum Asia CPAs LLP, have been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis, with the last inspections in 2020, and Marcum Asia is not subject to the determinations announced by the PCAOB on December 16, 2021. If trading in our Class A Ordinary Shares is prohibited under the HFCA Act in the future because the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor at such future time, Nasdaq may determine to delist our Class A Ordinary Shares and trading in our Class A Ordinary Shares could be prohibited. While our auditor is based in the U.S. and is registered with the PCAOB and subject to PCAOB inspection, in the event it is later determined that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely our auditor because of a position taken by an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, then such lack of inspection could cause trading in our Ordinary Shares to be prohibited under the HFCA Act, and ultimately result in a determination by a securities exchange to delist our Ordinary Shares. On August 26, 2022, the PCAOB signed a Statement of Protocol (the “SOP”) Agreement with the CSRC and China’s Ministry of Finance. The SOP Agreement, together with two protocol agreements (collectively, “SOP Agreements”), governing inspections and investigations of audit firms based in mainland China and Hong Kong, taking the first step toward opening access for the PCAOB to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong. Pursuant to the fact sheet with respect to the Protocol disclosed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the PCAOB shall have independent discretion to select any issuer audits for inspection or investigation and has the unfettered ability to transfer information to the SEC. On December 15, 2022, the PCAOB Board determined that the PCAOB was able to secure complete access to inspect and investigate registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong and voted to vacate its previous determinations to the contrary. However, should PRC authorities obstruct or otherwise fail to facilitate the PCAOB’s access in the future, the PCAOB Board will consider the need to issue a new determination.”
We thank the Staff for its review of the foregoing. If you have further comments, we ask that you forward them by electronic mail to our counsel, Louis Taubman, Esq. at ltaubman@htflawyers.com or by telephone at (212) 530-2208.
| Very truly yours, | |
| /s/ Darren Lui | |
| Darren Lui | |
| Chief Executive Officer |
| cc: | Louis Taubman, Esq. |
| Hunter Taubman Fischer & Li LLC |