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EX-31.1 - CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING OFFICER PURSUANT TO THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, RULES 13A-14 AND 15D-14. FILED WITH THIS FORM 10-K. - SEAFARER EXPLORATION CORPexhibit_31-1.htm


UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

________________________

FORM 10-K/A
Amendment No. 1
______________

(Mark One)
 
x
ANNUAL REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
For fiscal year ended December 31, 2012
 
o
TRANSITION REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
 
 
SEAFARER EXPLORATION CORP.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
 
Delaware
90-0473054
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)  
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

14497 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Suite 209N, Tampa, Florida 33618
 (Address of principal executive offices)(Zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number: (813) 448-3577

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
 
Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share
 

 
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Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.  Yes  o      No  x
 
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes  o      No  x
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes  x       No  o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes x     No o
 
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

             
Large accelerated filer o
 
Accelerated filer o
 
Non-accelerated filer   o
 
Smaller reporting company x
     
  (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
 
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).  Yes  o      No  x
 
The aggregate market value of the voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $5,492,466 as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, based upon the closing sale price on the OTCBB reported for such date. Shares of common stock held by each officer and director, and by each person who owns 10% or more of the outstanding common stock, have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

As of April 12, 2013, the Registrant had 780,569,084 outstanding shares of its common stock, $0.0001 par value.


 
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Explanatory Note

This Amendment No. 1 (the “Amendment”) to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Seafarer Exploration Corp. for the year ended December 31, 2012, originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 15, 2013, is being filed solely to amend the disclosures in Item 9A. “Controls and Procedures” and to amend the executive certification required by Item 601(b)(31) of Regulation S-K.  No other changes have been made to the Form 10-K except as described above. The Amendment does not reflect subsequent events occurring after the filing date of the Form 10-K or modify or update any other disclosures set forth in the Form 10-K.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.

(a)  Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

Management’s Responsibility for Controls and Procedures

The Company’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over the Company’s financial reporting. The Company’s controls over financial reporting are designed under the supervision of the Company’s Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that the Company files or submits under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Under the supervision and with the participation of our principal executive officer, the Company conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of its disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined under Rule 13a-15(e) promulgated under the Exchange Act, as of December 31, 2012.    Based on this evaluation, management concluded that our financial disclosure controls and procedures were not effective so as to timely record, process, summarize and report financial information required to be included on our Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) reports due to the Company’s limited internal resources and lack of ability to have multiple levels of transaction review.  However, as a result of our evaluation and review process, management believes that the financial statements and other information presented herewith are materially correct.

Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
 
Management did not use a formal, recognized control framework to conduct the required evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting since, in the view of management, comparison with a formal framework was unwarranted because of (i) the small size of the Company’s current operations and (ii) the Company’s executive management structure (consisting of only the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer) which enables management to be aware of all transactions.  However, regarding future evaluations, the Company intends to utilize a framework based on the criteria for effective internal control described Internal Control – Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (as revised).  Based on our evaluation, management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting  was not effective so as to timely record, process, summarize and report financial information required to be included on our Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) reports due to the Company’s limited internal resources and lack of ability to have multiple levels of transaction review.  However, as a result of our evaluation and review process, management believes that the financial statements and other information presented herewith are materially correct.

The management including its Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer, does not expect that its disclosure controls and procedures, or its internal controls over financial reporting will prevent all error and all fraud.  A control system no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable not absolute assurance that the objectives of the control system are met.  Further, the design of control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefit of controls must be considered relative to their costs.

 
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Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been detected.

The Company has limited resources and as a result, a material weakness in financial reporting currently exists, because of our limited resources and personnel, including those described below.

*
The Company has an insufficient quantity of dedicated resources and experienced personnel involved in reviewing and designing internal controls. As a result, a material misstatement of the interim and annual financial statements could occur and not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

*
We have not achieved the optimal level of segregation of duties relative to key financial reporting functions.
 
*
We do not have an audit committee or an independent audit committee financial expert. While not being legally obligated to have an audit committee or independent audit committee financial expert, it is the managements view that to have audit committee, comprised of independent board members, and an independent audit committee financial expert is an important entity-level control over the Company's financial statements.
   
*
We have not achieved an optimal segregation of duties for executive officers of the Company.

A material weakness is a deficiency (within the meaning of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) auditing standard 5 or 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. Management has determined that a material weakness exists due to a lack of segregation of duties, resulting from the Company's limited resources and personnel.

Remediation Efforts to Address Deficiencies in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

As a result of these findings, management, upon obtaining sufficient capital and operations, intends to take practical, cost-effective steps in implementing internal controls, including the possible following remedial measures:

*
Assessing the current duties of existing personnel and consultants, assigning additional duties to existing personnel and consultants, and, in a cost effective manner, potentially hiring additional personnel to assist with the preparation of the Company's financial statements to allow for proper segregation of duties, as well as additional resources for control documentation.

*
Assessing the duties of the existing officers of the Company and, in a cost effective manner, possibly promote or hire additional personnel to diversify duties and responsibilities of such executive officers.

*
Board to review and make recommendations to shareholders concerning the composition of the Board of Directors, with particular focus on issues of independence. The Board of Directors will consider nominating an audit committee and audit committee financial expert, which may or may not consist of independent members.

*
Interviewing and potentially hiring outside consultants that are experts in designing internal controls over financial reporting based on criteria established in Internal Control Integrated Framework issued by Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) (as revised).

This annual report does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our registered public accounting firm pursuant to temporary rules of the SEC that permit us to provide only management’s report in this annual report.


(b) Change in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The Company has not made any change in our internal control over financial reporting during the period ended December 31, 2012.

 
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  PART IV
 
Item 15. Exhibits
 
 
 
 
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.

 
Seafarer Exploration Corp.
     
     
Date: January 17, 2014
By:
/s/ Kyle Kennedy
   
Kyle Kennedy
President, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board
(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)
     
Date: January 17, 2014
By:
/s/ Charles Branscum
   
Charles Branscum, Director
     
 
 
Date: January 17, 2014
By:
/s/ Robert L. Kennedy
 
  
Robert L. Kennedy, Director
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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