8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 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): January 2, 2020

CTI INDUSTRIES CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Illinois

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

000-23115	36-2848943
(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)
22160 N. Pepper Road Lake Barrington, Illinois	60010
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (847) 382-1000

Not applicable

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

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common	CTIB	NasdaqCM

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 (l7 CFR 230.425)
☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-1 2)
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule l4d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240. l 4d-2 (b))
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13c-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240. l 3c-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 (17 CFR §230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2).

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.  ☐

Item 3.01 Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard;

On January 2, 2020, CTI Industries Corporation (“CTI” or the “Company”), received a notice (the “Notice”) of failure to satisfy a continued listing standard from Nasdaq under Listing Rules 5620 (a) and 5810 (c) (2) (G). The Notice indicated that the Company failed to hold an annual meeting of stockholders within the required twelve month period. The Company has 45 days to submit a plan to regain compliance. If that plan is accepted, CTI may be granted up to 180 calendar days from the date of the letter to evidence compliance. Failure to regain compliance with standards for continued listing would result in the ultimate de-listing of CTI’s common stock, ticker symbol “CTIB”, from Nasdaq. The Company intends to respond with a plan designed to regain compliance.

This summary is not intended to include all terms of the Notice, which is attached hereto.

Item No. 9.01 – Financial Statements and Exhibits

Exhibit No.                         Exhibit

10.1                        Notice from Nasdaq dated January 2, 2020.

 SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, CTI Industries Corporation has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, hereunto duly authorized, in the Village of Lake Barrington, Illinois, January 7, 2020.

CTI INDUSTRIES CORPORATION
By:	/s/ Frank J. Cesario
	Frank J. Cesario, President and CEO

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit Number	Description
10.1	Notice from Nasdaq dated January 2, 2020

EX-10.1

Exhibit 10.1

By Electronic Delivery to: fcesario@ctiindustries.com

January 2, 2020

Mr. Frank J. Cesario

Chief Financial Officer

CTI Industries Corporation

22160 N. Pepper Road

Lake Barrington, Illinois 60010

Re: CTI Industries Corporation (the “Company”)

Nasdaq Symbol: CTIB

Dear Mr. Cesario

I am following up on our recent telephone conversation in which I explained that since your Company has not yet held an annual meeting of shareholders within twelve months of the end of the Company’s fiscal year end, it no longer complies with our Listing Rules (the “Rules”) for continued listing.¹ Under our Rules the Company now has 45 calendar days to submit a plan to regain compliance and if we accept your plan, we can grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days from the fiscal year end, or until June 29, 2020, to regain compliance. Your plan should be as definitive as possible, addressing any issues that you believe would support your request for an exception.

In determining whether to accept your plan, we will consider such things as the likelihood that the annual meeting can be held within the 180 day period, the Company’s past compliance history, the reasons for the delayed meeting, other corporate events that may occur within our review period, the Company’s overall financial condition and its public disclosures.²

Please email your plan to me at rachel.scherr@nasdaq.com no later than February 17, 2020. After we review the plan, I will contact you if we have any questions or comments and will provide you written notice of our decision. If we do not accept your plan, you will have the opportunity to appeal that decision to a Hearings Panel.³

¹See Listing Rules 5620(a) and 5810(c)(2)(G). In addition, please see IM-5620 which specifies the securities subject to the annual meeting requirement.

² For additional information with respect to compliance plans please see attached “Nasdaq Online Resources” when preparing your plan of compliance. This attachment includes links to the Frequently Asked Questions section relating to continued listing.

³ See Listing Rule 5815(a). See FAQ #428 available on the Nasdaq Listing Center.

Mr. Frank J. Cesario

January 2, 2020

Page 2

Our Rules require that the Company promptly disclose receipt of this letter by either filing a Form 8-K, where required by SEC rules, or by issuing a press release. The announcement needs to be made no later than four business days from the date of this letter and must include the continued listing criteria that the Company does not meet, and a description of each specific basis and concern identified by Nasdaq in reaching the determination.⁴ The Company must also submit the announcement to Nasdaq’s MarketWatch Department.⁵ If the public announcement is made between the hours of 7:00 AM and 8:00 PM Eastern Time, the Company must submit the announcement to Nasdaq’s MarketWatch Department at least ten minutes prior its public release. If the public announcement is made outside of these hours, the Company must submit the announcement prior to 6:50 A.M. Eastern Time. Please note that if you do not make the required announcement trading in your securities will be halted.⁶

In addition, Nasdaq makes available to investors a list of all non-compliant companies, which is posted on our website at listingcenter.nasdaq.com. The Company will be included in this list beginning five business days from the date of this letter. As part of this process, an indicator reflecting the Company’s non-compliance will be broadcast over Nasdaq’s market data dissemination network and will also be made available to third party market data providers.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, at +1 301 978 8072.

Sincerely,

Rachel Scherr

Listing Analyst

Nasdaq Listing Qualifications

Enclosures

4 Listing Rule 5810(b).

5 The notice must be submitted to Nasdaq’s MarketWatch Department through the Electronic Disclosure submission system available at nasdaq.net/ED/IssuerEntry.

6 Listing IM-5810-1.

NASDAQ ONLINE RESOURCES

All of our listing information and forms are available electronically on the Listing Center. In addition to facilitating electronic submission of forms, you can also use the Listing Center to access Nasdaq’s Reference Library containing hundreds of frequently asked questions and Governance Clearinghouse containing the latest updates on corporate governance and listing standards.

To help you navigate the deficiency process, we have provided links to some our most viewed resource materials.

● Board Composition and Committee Requirements

● Governance Clearinghouse

● Hearings Process

● How to Transfer to Nasdaq Capital Market

● Information about Application of Shareholder Approval Rules

● Initial Listing Process

● Listing Fees

● Listing of Additional Shares Process

● MarketWatch Electronic Disclosure Submissions

● Nasdaq Listing Rules: Initial and Continued Listing

● Reference Library: Frequently Asked Questions, Staff Interpretations and Listing Council Decisions