10-K/A 1 f10ka12008_sinoenergy.htm AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO 2008 YEAR END REPORT f10ka12008_sinoenergy.htm


U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Washington, DC 20549

Form 10-K/A
Amendment No. 1

x ANNUAL REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008
 
o TRANSITION REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 for the transition period from ________ to _________
 
Commission File Number 1-34131
 
Sinoenergy Corporation
(Name of small business issuer as specified in its charter)

Nevada
 
84-1491682
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
 
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

 
1603-1604, Tower B Fortune Centre Ao City, Beiyuan Road, Chaoyang District,
Beijing China, 100107
(Address of principal executive offices)
Issuer’s telephone number: 011 86-10-84928149

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

Title of Each Class: Common Stock, $ 0.001 par value.

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: None.

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

Indicated by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes oNo 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 past 90 days. Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers in response 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 referenced 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.
 
 Large Accelerated Filer o Accelerated Filer o   Non-Accelerated Filer o   Smaller Reporting Company x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No x

As of December 8, 2008, there were 15,942,336 shares of Common Stock outstanding.

 
Documents incorporated by reference
 
 None
 

 
 
Introductory Note

This annual report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended September 30, 2008, has been filed to amend the disclosure under Item 9A Controls and Procedures and to refile the certifications required by Section 302 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (Exhibits 31.1 and 31.2).  Accordingly, this amendment only includes Item 9A and the Exhibit 31 certifications, which omit paragraph 3 since the financial statements have not been changed.

ITEM 9A.  CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
 
Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Under the supervision and with the participation of management, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer have carried out an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined under Rule 13a-15(e) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.  

Disclosure controls and procedures refer to controls and other procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Securities Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating our disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives, and management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating and implementing possible controls and procedures.  It is our management’s responsibility to establish and maintain adequate internal controls over financial reporting.

Management conducted its evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures under the supervision of our chief executive officer and our chief financial officer. Based on that evaluation, our management, including our chief executive and chief financial officers, concluded that because of the significant deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting described below, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2008.

Based upon their evaluation, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that there were material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting as of the end of the period covered by this report.  In making this assessment, our management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (“COSO”) of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control — Integrated Framework. Our management concluded that, as of September 30, 2008, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective based on these criteria.  Our chief executive officer and chief financial officer identified weaknesses related to our accounting personnel’s ability to identify various accounting and disclosure issues, account for transactions that include an equity-based component, and prepare financial statements and footnotes in accordance with U.S. GAAP.  Until June 2006, we were a privately-owned company engaged with all of our assets and operations located in China, and our financial statements were prepared in accordance with PRC GAAP.  Since we became a publicly-traded company, we have significantly expanded the scope of our business, so that we presently have four business segments.  We have also engaged in two financings, entered into joint ventures, acquired and disposed of companies and assets, and granted equity-based incentives.  All of these events presented complex accounting issues which were new to our financial staff.  Furthermore, we do not have a large accounting department and it has been difficult for us to hire qualified personnel who understand English and Chinese and are familiar with both U.S. GAAP and PRC GAAP.  We are addressing these issues by reviewing and revising our internal accounting policies and procedures, expanding the resources allocated to our accounting department, and hiring outside accounting advisors.  We expect resolution of these matters may take several months.  
 
The conclusion of chief executive officer and chief financial officer regarding our disclosure controls and procedures is based solely on management’s conclusion that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective.
 
 Our material weaknesses related to:
 
 
an insufficient complement of personnel in our corporate accounting and financial reporting function with an appropriate level of technical accounting knowledge, experience, and training in the application of US GAAP commensurate with our complex financial accounting and reporting requirements and materiality thresholds.
     
 
Lack of internal audit function-the monitoring function of internal control is not well performed due to insufficient capable resources. In addition, the scope and effectiveness of internal audit function are yet to be developed.
     
 
Insufficient or lack of written policies and procedures relating to periodic review of current policies and procedures and their implementation.
 

 
 
Our deficiency related to the lack of adequate training of employees, especially those recently hired, on our accounting policies and our antifraud programs.
 
Remediation and Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
 
The Company has discussed the material weaknesses and deficiency in its internal control over financial reporting with the audit committee of the board of directors and is in the process of developing and implementing remediation plans to address the material weaknesses and deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008, management conducted a program to plan the remediation of all identified deficiencies using a risk-based approach based on the “Internal Control — Integrated Framework” issued by COSO. These plans contemplate various changes in process, procedures, policy, training and organizational design, and are currently being implemented. In addition, the Company intends to hire and/or appoint new managers in the accounting area and/or engage accounting professionals from external resources to address internal control weaknesses related to technical accounting.
 
The following specific remedial actions were currently in process, to address the material weaknesses and deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting described above:
 
 
Reorganize and restructure our corporate accounting staff by:
         
     
revising the reporting structure and establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability;
         
     
hiring additional technical accounting personnel to address our complex accounting and financial reporting requirements;
         
     
assessing the technical accounting capabilities at our subsidiaries to ensure the right complement of knowledge, skills, and training; and
         
     
establishing internal audit functions,

 
Improve period-end closing procedures by:
         
     
ensuring that account reconciliations and analyses for significant financial statement accounts are reviewed for completeness and accuracy by qualified accounting personnel;
         
     
implementing a process that ensures the timely review and approval of complex accounting estimates by qualified accounting personnel and subject matter experts, where appropriate;
         
     
developing better monitoring controls for corporate accounting and at our subsidiaries,
         
     
documenting and implementing antifraud programs and controls as well as comprehensive risk assessment of procedures, programs and controls, and
         
     
making efforts to develop written policies and procedures, but the progress has been slowed due to limited resources and personnel changes.
 
Due to lack of qualified personnel in the region, we were not able to hire sufficient internal audit resources before the end of 2008. During 2008, we hired an internal audit manager and, we will increase our efforts to hire qualified personnel.  We anticipate that we will be able to complete the remediation before September 30, 2009.

Auditor Attestation
 
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 Securities and Exchange Commission that permit us to provide only management’s report in this annual report.
 
 

 
SIGNATURES
 
In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
 
 

 
SINOENERGY CORPORATION.
(Registrant)
 
       
Dated:  December 29, 2009
By:
/s/ Bo Huang 
 
   
Bo Huang, Chief Executive Officer
 
       
       
 
 
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, this report has been signed by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.  
 
Signature
 
Title
 
Date
         
/s/ Bo Huang*
 
Chief Executive Officer
   
Bo Huang
 
and Director (Principal Executive Officer)
   
         
/s/ Shiao Ming Sheng*
 
Chief Financial Officer
   
Shiao Ming Sheng
 
(Principal Financial and
   
   
Accounting Officer)
   
         
/s/ Tianzhou Deng*
 
Director
   
Tianzhou Deng
       
         
/s/ Robert I. Adler*
 
Director
   
Robert I. Adler
       
         
/s/ Renjie Lu*
 
Director
   
Renjie Lu
       
         
/s/ Greg Marcinkowski*
 
Director
   
Greg Marcinkowski
       
         
/s/ Baoheng Shi*
 
Director
   
Baoheng Shi
       
         
/s/ Xiang Dong (Donald) Yang*
 
Director
   
Xiang Dong (Donald) Yang
       
 
   
 
   
*By: /s/  Bo Huang
     
December 29, 2009
Bo Huang
       
Attorney-in-fact