LVPAI GROUP LIMITED
50 West Liberty Street, Suite 880, Reno, Nevada
September 15, 2022
Mr. James Lopez, Mr. Peter McPhun and Mr. Wilson Lee
Office of Real Estate & Construction
Division of Corporate Finance
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Mail Stop 4631
100 F Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20549-4631
Re: | LVPAI GROUP LIMITED |
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022 | |
Filed May 19, 2022 | |
File No. 033-20966 |
Dear Mr. James Lopez, Mr. Peter McPhun and Mr. Wilson Lee:
This letter is in response to the letter dated September 1, 2022, from the staff (the “Staff”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) addressed to LVPAI GROUP LIMITED. (the “Company,” “we,” and “our”). For ease of reference, we have recited the Staff’s comments in this response and numbered them accordingly.
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022
1. | Given that your executive officers and director have significant ties to and/or are located within China, you should provide specific and prominent disclosures about the legal and operational risks associated with having business in this location, which was posted to our website on December 20, 2021.
Please position disclosures made in response to all applicable comments in the forepart of the periodic report, without regard to the sectional heading utilized in the Sample Letter and notwithstanding the exemption from risk factor disclosures for smaller reporting companies. However, a discussion of whether your auditor is subject to the determinations announced by the PCAOB on December 16, 2021, and how the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act and related regulations may affect your company, should be provided adjacent to the cover page or in advance of the other disclosures. |
Response: The Company respectfully acknowledges the Staff’s comment and in response has revised the disclosure to include a discussion with respect to the legal and operational risks associated with having business in this location on this response letter and in the risk factors sections “ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS”. And we have provided our discussion of whether our auditor is subject to the determations announced by the PCAOB on December 16, 2021 in the risk factors sections. Please see the revised disclosure on page 3, in “ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS-Risks associated with doing business in China — Trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or investigate completed our auditors for three consecutive years beginning in 2021, or for two consecutive years if the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act or the America COMPETES Act becomes law.” in the Risk Factors section on pages 3 of this response letter. Please find the language words as follows.
Risks associated with doing business in China
Trading in our securities may be prohibited under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act if the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or investigate completed our auditors for three consecutive years beginning in 2021, or for two consecutive years if the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act or the America COMPETES Act becomes law.
In recent years, U.S. regulatory authorities have continued to express their concerns about challenges in their oversight of financial statement audits of U.S.-listed companies with significant operations in China. As part of a continued regulatory focus in the United States on access to audit and other information, the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, or the HFCAA, was enacted on December 18, 2020. The HFCAA includes requirements for the SEC to identify issuers whose audit work is performed by auditors that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a restriction imposed by a non-U.S. authority in the auditor’s local jurisdiction. The HFCAA also requires that, to the extent that the PCAOB has been unable to inspect an issuer’s auditor for three consecutive years since 2021, the SEC shall prohibit its securities registered in the United States from being traded on any national securities exchange or over-the-counter markets in the United States.
On March 24, 2021, the SEC adopted interim final rules relating to the implementation of certain disclosure and documentation requirements of the HFCAA. The interim final rule applies 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 that the PCAOB is unable to inspect or investigate completely because of a position taken by an authority in that jurisdiction. Consistent with the HFCAA, the interim final rule requires the submission of documentation to the SEC establishing that such a registrant is not owned or controlled by a government entity in that foreign jurisdiction and also requires disclosure in a foreign issuer’s annual report regarding the audit arrangements of, and government influence on, such registrants. On May 13, 2021, the PCAOB issued proposed PCAOB Rule 6100, Board Determinations Under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act for public comment. The proposed rule provides a framework for making determinations as to whether PCAOB is unable to inspect an audit firm in a foreign jurisdiction, including the timing, factors, bases, publication and revocation or modification of such determinations, and such determinations will be made on a jurisdiction-wide basis in a consistent manner applicable to all firms headquartered in the jurisdiction. In November 2021, the SEC approved PCAOB Rule 6100. On December 2, 2021, the SEC adopted amendments to final rules implementing the disclosure and submission requirements of the HFCAA.
On June 22, 2021, the U.S. Senate passed the Accelerating Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act or AHFCAA, and on February 4, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2022, or the COMPETES Act. If either bill is enacted into law, it would amend the HFCAA 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 PCAOB inspections or complete investigations for two consecutive years instead of three. As a result, our securities may be prohibited from trading on Nasdaq or over-the-counter markets if our auditor is not inspected by the PCAOB for three consecutive years as specified in the HFCAA or two years if the AHFCAA or the COMPETES Act becomes law, and would reduce the time before our securities may be prohibited from trading or delisted.
On December 2, 2021, the SEC issued amendments to finalize rules implementing the submission and disclosure requirements in the HFCAA. 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.
On December 16, 2021, the PCAOB announced the PCAOB Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act determinations (the “PCAOB determinations”) relating to the PCAOB’s inability to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China of the PRC or Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region and dependency of the PRC, because of a position taken by one or more authorities in the PRC or Hong Kong.
The lack of access to the PCAOB inspection or investigation in China prevents the PCAOB from fully evaluating audits and quality control procedures of the auditors based in China. As a result, the investors may be deprived of the benefits of such PCAOB inspections. The inability of the PCAOB to conduct inspections or investigation of auditors in China makes it more difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these accounting firms’ audit procedures or quality control procedures as compared to auditors outside of China that are subject to the PCAOB inspections and investigation, which could cause existing and potential investors in our stock to lose confidence in our audit procedures and reported financial information and the quality of our financial statements.
Our auditor, BF Borgers CPA PC, is an independent registered public accounting firm with the PCAOB, and as an auditor of publicly traded companies in the U.S., is subject to laws in the U.S. pursuant to which the PCAOB conducts regular inspections to assess its compliance with the applicable professional standards. BF Borgers CPA PC is based in the United States and has been inspected by the PCAOB on a regular basis, with the last inspection in November and December 2021. BF Borgers CPA PC, is not headquartered in mainland China or Hong Kong and was not identified as a firm subject to the determinations announced by the PCAOB on December 16, 2021. Should the PCAOB be unable to fully conduct inspection of our auditor’s work papers in China, it will make it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of our auditor’s audit procedures or equity control procedures. Investors may consequently lose confidence in our reported financial information and procedures or quality of the financial statements, which would adversely affect us and our securities. Moreover, if trading in our securities is prohibited under the HFCAA in the future because the PCAOB determines that it cannot inspect or fully investigate our auditor at such future time, an exchange may determine to delist our securities
China’s political climate and economic conditions, as well as changes in government policies, laws and regulations which may be quick with little advance notice, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our officers and director are the resident of and is physically located in and has significant ties to China. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects are subject, to a significant extent, to economic, political and legal developments in China. For example, as a result of recent proposed changes in the cybersecurity regulations in China that would require certain Chinese technology firms to undergo a cybersecurity review before being allowed to list on foreign exchanges, this may have the effect of further narrowing the list of potential businesses in China’s consumer, technology and mobility sectors that we intend to focus on for our business combination or the ability of the combined entity to list in the United States.
China’s economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth in the past two to three decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. Demand for target services and products depends, in large part, on economic conditions in China. Any slowdown in China’s economic growth may cause our potential customers to delay or cancel their plans to purchase our services and products, which in turn could reduce our net revenues.
Although China’s economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a more market-oriented economy since the late 1970s, the PRC government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The PRC government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through allocating resources, controlling the incurrence and payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies. Changes in any of these policies, laws and regulations may be quick with little advance notice and could adversely affect the economy in China and could have a material adverse effect on our business and the value of our common stock.
The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage foreign investment and sustainable economic growth and to guide the allocation of financial and other resources. However, we cannot assure you that the PRC government will not repeal or alter these measures or introduce new measures that will have a negative effect on us, or more specifically, we cannot assure you that the PRC government will not initiate possible governmental actions or scrutiny to us, which could substantially affect our operation and the value of our common stock may depreciate quickly. China’s social and political conditions may change and become unstable. Any sudden changes to China’s political system or the occurrence of widespread social unrest could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Any failure or perceived failure by our PRC subsidiaries to comply with the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for Internet Platforms Economy Sector and other PRC anti-monopoly laws and regulations may result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, litigation or claims against us and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The PRC anti-monopoly enforcement agencies have strengthened enforcement under the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law in the recent years. On December 28, 2018, the SAMR issued the Notice on Anti-monopoly Enforcement Authorization, pursuant to which its province-level branches are authorized to conduct anti-monopoly enforcement within their respective jurisdictions. On September 11, 2020, the Anti-Monopoly Commission of the State Council issued Anti-monopoly Compliance Guideline for Operators, which requires operators to establish anti-monopoly compliance management systems under the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law to manage anti-monopoly compliance risks. On February 7, 2021, the Anti-Monopoly Commission of the State Council published Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Internet Platform Economy Sector that specified circumstances under which an activity of an internet platform will be identified as monopolistic act as well as concentration filing procedures for business operators. According to the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law, if a business operator carries out a concentration in violation of the law, the relevant authority shall order the business operator to terminate the concentration, dispose of the shares or assets or transfer the business within a specified time limit, or take other measures to restore the pre-concentration status, and impose a fine of up to RMB500,000. On March 12, 2021, the SAMR published several administrative penalty cases in connection with concentration of business operators that violated PRC Anti-Monopoly Law in the internet sector.
On October 23, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress issued a discussion draft of the amended Anti-Monopoly Law, which proposes to increase the fines for illegal concentration of business operators to “no more than ten percent of its last year’s sales revenue if the concentration of business operator has or may have an effect of excluding or limiting competition; or a fine of up to RMB5 million if the concentration of business operator does not have an effect of excluding or limiting competition.” The draft also proposes for the relevant authority to investigate transaction where there is evidence that the concentration has or may have the effect of eliminating or restricting competition, even if such concentration does not reach the filing threshold. On December 24, 2021, nine government agencies, including the NDRC, jointly issued the Opinions on Promoting the Healthy and Sustainable Development of Platform Economy, which provides that, among others, monopolistic agreements, abuse of dominant market position and illegal concentration of business operators in the field of platform economy will be strictly investigated and punished in accordance with the relevant laws.
At the present time, we have a relatively small scale supply chain platform operations based on our market share in our product markets and other factors. We are not an operator with a dominant market position, and our operating activity cannot constitute an anti-monopoly behavior that abuses our dominant market position. We have not entered into monopoly agreements prohibited by the Anti-Monopoly Law with competing business operators. As of the date of the prospectus, we have not received a notification from the anti-monopoly regulatory authority requiring us to file the concentration of undertakings or received any related administrative penalties. We believe that we are in compliance with the currently effective PRC anti-monopoly laws in all material aspects. Nevertheless, if the PRC regulatory authorities identify any of our activities as monopolistic under the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law or the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Internet Platform Economy Sector, we may be subject to investigations and administrative penalties, and therefore materially and adversely affect our financial conditions, operations and business prospects. If we are required to take any rectifying or remedial measures or are subject to any penalties, our reputation and business operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Recent regulatory developments in China, including greater oversight and control by the CAC over data security, may subject us to additional regulatory review, and any actions by the Chinese government to exert more oversight and control over foreign investment in China-based issuers could significantly limit or completely hinder our ability to offer or continue to offer securities to investors and cause the value of such securities to significantly decline or be worthless.
On December 28, 2021, the CAC, NDRC, and several other agencies jointly issued the final version of the Revised Measures for Cybersecurity Review, or the Revised Cybersecurity Measures, which took effect on February 15, 2022 and replaced the previously issued Revised Measures for Cybersecurity Review. Under the Revised Cybersecurity Measures, an “online platform operator” in possession of personal data of more than one million users must apply for a cybersecurity review if it intends to list its securities on a foreign stock exchange. The operators of critical information infrastructure purchasing network products and services, and the online platform operators (together with the operators of critical information infrastructure, the “Operators”) carrying out data processing activities that affect or may affect national security, shall conduct a cybersecurity review, and any online platform operator who controls more than one million users’ personal information must go through a cybersecurity review by the cybersecurity review office if it seeks to be listed in a foreign country. Pursuant to the Revised Cybersecurity Measures, we don’t believe we will be subject to the cybersecurity review by the CAC, given that (i) our online platform business just start up, we possess personal information of a very small number of users (less than 100 users) in our business operations as of the date of this report, significantly less than the one million user threshold set for a data processing operator applying for listing on a foreign exchange that is required to pass such cybersecurity review; and (ii) data processed in our business does not have a bearing on national security and thus shall not be classified as core or important data by the authorities. We don’t believe that we are an Operator within the meaning of the Revised Cybersecurity Measures, nor do we control more than one million users’ personal information, and as such, we should not be required to apply for a cybersecurity review under the Revised Cybersecurity Measures.
However, there remains uncertainty as to how the Revised Cybersecurity Measures may be interpreted or implemented and whether the PRC regulatory agencies, including the CAC, may adopt new rules and regulations related to the Revised Cybersecurity Measures. For example, there is still no clear definition of “online platform operator”. Whether the data processing activities carried out by traditional enterprises (such as food, medicine, automobile and other production enterprises) are subject to such review and the scope of the review remain to be further clarified by the regulatory authorities in the subsequent implementation process. If any new laws, regulations, implementation measures or interpretation are adopted, we may need to take further actions and invest resources to comply with such new rules and to minimize any potential negative effects on us. In addition, if the number of our online platform users increases to a level close to one million, we would expect to prepare for the required cybersecurity review procedure and approval from the PRC government.
Governmental control of currency conversion may affect the value of your investment.
The PRC government imposes controls on the convertibility of the RMB into foreign currencies and, in certain cases, the remittance of currency out of China. We receive substantially all of our revenues in RMB. Under our current corporate structure, our income will currently only be derived from dividend payments from our PRC subsidiaries. Shortages in the availability of foreign currency may restrict the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to remit sufficient foreign currency to pay dividends or other payments to us, or otherwise satisfy their foreign currency denominated obligations. Under existing PRC foreign exchange regulations, payments of current account items, including profit distributions, interest payments and expenditures from trade-related transactions can be made in foreign currencies without prior approval from SAFE by complying with certain procedural requirements. However, approval from appropriate government authorities is required where RMB is to be converted into foreign currency and remitted out of China to pay capital expenses such as the repayment of loans denominated in foreign currencies. The PRC government may also at its discretion restrict access in the future to foreign currencies for current account transactions. If the foreign exchange control system prevents us from obtaining sufficient foreign currency to satisfy our currency demands, we may not be able to pay dividends in foreign currencies to our security-holders.
Failure to comply with the Individual Foreign Exchange Rules relating to the overseas direct investment or the engagement in the issuance or trading of securities overseas by our PRC resident stockholders may subject such stockholders to fines or other liabilities.
Our ability to conduct foreign exchange activities in the PRC may be subject to the interpretation and enforcement of the Implementation Rules of the Administrative Measures for Individual Foreign Exchange promulgated by SAFE in January 2007 (as amended and supplemented, the “Individual Foreign Exchange Rules”). Under the Individual Foreign Exchange Rules, any PRC individual seeking to make a direct investment overseas or engage in the issuance or trading of negotiable securities or derivatives overseas must make the appropriate registrations in accordance with SAFE provisions. PRC individuals who fail to make such registrations may be subject to warnings, fines or other liabilities.
SAFE promulgated the Notice on Relevant Issues Relating to Domestic Resident’s Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment through Special Purpose Vehicles, or Notice 37, in July 2014 that requires PRC residents or entities to register with SAFE or its local branch in connection with their establishment or control of an offshore entity established for the purpose of overseas investment or financing. In addition, such PRC residents or entities must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to material change of capitalization or structure of the PRC resident itself (such as capital increase, capital reduction, share transfer or exchange, merger or spin off).
We may not be fully informed of the identities of all our beneficial owners who are PRC residents. For example, because the investment in or trading of our shares will happen in an overseas public or secondary market where shares are often held with brokers in brokerage accounts, it is unlikely that we will know the identity of all of our beneficial owners who are PRC residents. Furthermore, we have no control over any of our future beneficial owners and we cannot assure you that such PRC residents will be able to complete the necessary approval and registration procedures required by the Individual Foreign Exchange Rules.
To our knowledge, our beneficial owners, who are PRC residents, have not completed the Notice 37 registration. And we cannot guarantee that all or any of the shareholders will complete the Notice 37 registration prior to the closing of this Offering. Failure by any such shareholders or beneficial owners to comply with Notice 37 could restrict our overseas or cross-border investment activities, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to make distributions or pay dividends or affect our ownership structure, which could adversely affect our business and prospects. In addition, the PRC resident shareholders who fail to complete Notice 37 registration may subject to fines less than RMB50,000.
As these foreign exchange and outbound investment related regulations are relatively new and their interpretation and implementation has been constantly evolving, it is unclear how these regulations, and any future regulation concerning offshore or cross-border investments and transactions, will be interpreted, amended and implemented by the relevant government authorities.
It is uncertain how the Individual Foreign Exchange Rules will be interpreted or enforced and whether such interpretation or enforcement will affect our ability to conduct foreign exchange transactions. Because of this uncertainty, we cannot be sure whether the failure by any of our PRC resident stockholders to make the required registration will subject our PRC subsidiaries to fines or legal sanctions on their operations, delay or restriction on repatriation of proceeds of our securities offerings into the PRC, restriction on remittance of dividends or other punitive actions that would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law, we may be classified as a “Resident Enterprise” of China. Such classification will likely result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC stockholders.
China passed an Enterprise Income Tax Law (the “EIT Law”), as most recently amended and effective on December 29, 2018, and the related Implementation Regulations, as amended and effective on April 23 2019. Under the EIT Law, an enterprise established outside of China with “de facto management bodies” within China is considered a “resident enterprise,” meaning that it can be treated in a manner similar to a Chinese enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes. The implementing rules of the EIT Law define de facto management as “substantial and overall management and control over the production and operations, personnel, accounting, and properties” of the enterprise.
On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation of China issued the Notice Concerning Relevant Issues Regarding Cognizance of Chinese Investment Controlled Enterprises Incorporated Offshore as Resident Enterprises pursuant to Criteria of de facto Management Bodies, or the Notice, further interpreting the application of the EIT Law and its implementation to offshore entities controlled by a Chinese enterprise or group. Pursuant to the Notice, an enterprise incorporated in an offshore jurisdiction and controlled by a Chinese enterprise or group will be classified as a “non-domestically incorporated resident enterprise” if (i) its senior management in charge of daily operations reside or perform their duties mainly in China; (ii) its financial or personnel decisions are made or approved by bodies or persons in China; (iii) its substantial assets and properties, accounting books, corporate stamps, board and stockholder minutes are kept in China; and (iv) at least half of its directors with voting rights or senior management are often resident in China. A resident enterprise would be subject to an enterprise income tax rate of 25% on its worldwide income and must pay a withholding tax at a rate of 10% when paying dividends to its non-PRC stockholders.
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Thank you in advance for your assistance in reviewing this response and the Amendment. Should you have any questions with respect to the above responses, please feel free to contact us.
Sincerely, | |
/s/ Chen Yuanhang | |
Chen Yuanhang | |
Chief Executive Officer, President, Secretary, Treasurer, Director | |
/s/ Zhang Wenmin | |
Zhang Wenmin | |
Chief Financial Officer |