UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

 

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 12, 2020

 

Future FinTech Group Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Florida   001-34502   98-0222013

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

  (Commission File Number)  

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

 

 

Room 2103, 21st Floor, SK Tower 6A

Jianguomenwai Avenue, Chaoyang District

Beijing, China 100022

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

 

(86-10) 8589-9303

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
   
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
   
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
   
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company 

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class   Trading Symbol(s)   Name of each exchange
on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share   FTFT   Nasdaq Stock Market

 

 

 

 

 

Item 8.01     Other Events.

 

Future FinTech Group, Inc. (the “Company”) will be relying on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Order under Section 36 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Modifying Exemptions From the Reporting and Proxy Delivery Requirements for Public Companies dated March 25, 2020 (Release No. 34-88465) (the “Order”) to delay the filing of its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 (the “Quarterly Report”) due to circumstances related to COVID-19.

 

In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, which has spread throughout China and other parts of the world, including the United States. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern,” and on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization characterized the outbreak as a “pandemic.” Xi’an City and Beijing City, where our headquarters are located, are the most affected areas in China. The Company has been following the orders of local government and health authorities to minimize exposure risk for its employees, including the closures of its offices and having employees work remotely. Our offices were closed for the Lunar New Year Holiday Break in late January 2020 and remained closed as a result of the outbreak until late March 2020. As a result, the Company’s books and records were not easily accessible, resulting in a delay in the preparation, audit and completion of the Company’s financial statements for its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 (the “Form 10-K”). The Company is still working on the Form 10-K and expects to file the Form 10-K on or before May 29, 2020 with the extension periods afforded by the Order and Rule 12b-25. Accordingly, the preparation, review and completion of the Company’s financial statements for its Quarterly Report have been delayed and the Company expects to file the Quarterly Report no later than June 29, 2020 (which is 45 days from the Quarterly Report’s original filing deadline of May 15, 2020).

 

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Company is providing the following risk factor:

 

An occurrence of an uncontrollable event such as the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively affect our operations and financial results.

 

In recent years, there have been outbreaks of epidemics in various countries, including China. Recently, there was an outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (COVID-19) in China, which has spread rapidly to many parts of the world, including the U.S. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The pandemic has resulted in quarantines, travel restrictions, and the temporary closure of office buildings and facilities in China and in the U.S.

 

Substantially all of our revenues are generated in China. Consequently, our results of operations will likely be adversely, and may be materially, affected, to the extent that COVID-19 or any other epidemic harms the Chinese and global economy. Any potential impact to our results will depend on, to a large extent, future developments and new information that may emerge regarding the duration and severity of COVID-19 and the actions taken by government authorities and other entities to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, almost all of which are beyond our control. Potential impacts include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

  temporary closure of offices, travel restrictions or suspension of shipment of our products to our customers. Our suppliers have been negatively affected, and could continue to be negatively affected in their ability to supply and ship products to us;

 

  our customers that are negatively impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 may reduce their budgets to purchase our products, which may materially adversely impact our revenue;

 

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  the business operations of the third parties’ stores on our platform have been and could continue to be negatively impacted by the outbreak, which may negatively impact their operations and business, which may in turn adversely affect the business of our platform as a whole as well as our financial condition and operating results;

 

  any disruption of our supply chain, logistics providers, customers or our marketing activities could materially adversely impact our business and results of operations, including causing  our suppliers to cease manufacturing products for a period of time or materially delay delivery to us and customers, which may also lead to loss of customers, as well as reputational, competitive and business harm to us;

 

  many of our customers, distributors, suppliers and other business partners are individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which may not have strong cash flows or be well capitalized, and may be vulnerable to an epidemic outbreak and slowing macroeconomic conditions. If the SMEs that we work with cannot weather the COVID-19 and the resulting economic impact, or cannot resume business as usual after a prolonged outbreak, our revenues and business operations may be materially and adversely impacted; and

 

  the global stock markets have experienced, and may continue to  experience significant decline from the COVID-19 outbreak, which could materially adversely affect our stock price.

 

Because of the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, the financial impact related to the outbreak of and response to the coronavirus cannot be reasonably estimated at this time, but our consolidated results for the first and second quarters of and full year 2020 may be adversely affected.

 

Further, as we do not have access to a revolving credit facility, there can be no assurance that we would be able to secure commercial debt financing in the future in the event that we require additional capital. We currently believe that our financial resources will be adequate to see us through the outbreak. However, in the event that we do need to raise capital in the future, the outbreak-related instability in the securities markets could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital.

 

In general, our business could be adversely affected by the effects of epidemics, including, but not limited to, COVID-19, avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the influenza A virus, the Ebola virus, or other outbreaks. In response to an epidemic or other outbreaks, government and other organizations may adopt regulations and policies that could lead to severe disruption to our daily operations, including temporary closure of our offices and other facilities. These severe conditions may cause us and/or our partners to make internal adjustments, including but not limited to, temporarily closing down business, limiting business hours, and setting restrictions on travel and/or visits with clients and partners for a prolonged period of time. Various impacts arising from severe conditions may cause business disruption, resulting in material, adverse effects to our financial condition and results of operations.

 

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

 

This Current Report on Form 8-K contains “forward-looking statements” related to the Company that involve substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties and are often identified by the use of words such as “will”, “could”, “expect”, or “may” and similar expressions or variations. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: the Company’s ability to rely on the Order to delay the filing of its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, the Company’s timeline for its annual and quarterly financial statements and expected filing dates of its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, and the impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s operations and financial performance, including supply chain impacts. These statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of the Company’s management based on information currently available to management. These statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

  Future FinTech Group Inc.
   
Date: May 12, 2020 By: /s/ Shanchun Huang
  Name:  Shanchun Huang
  Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

 

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