UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 20-F/A
(Amendment No. 1)
☐ REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
OR
☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended April 30, 2023
OR
☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
OR
☐ SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of event requiring this shell company report
For the transition period from to
Commission file number: 001-41752
Earlyworks Co., Ltd.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
N/A
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)
Japan
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
5-7-11, Ueno, Taito-ku
Tokyo, Japan 110-0005
(Address of principal executive offices)
Satoshi Kobayashi, Chief Executive Officer and Representative Director
Telephone: +81 03-5614-0978
Email: satoshi-k@e-arly.works
At the address of the Company set forth above
(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||
| American depositary shares, each representing one ordinary share | ELWS | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC | ||
| Ordinary shares* | The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
| * | Not for trading, but only in connection with the registration of the American depositary shares on The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC. Each American depositary share represents one ordinary share. |
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.
None
(Title of Class)
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.
None
(Title of Class)
Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: 15,039,400 ordinary shares
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.
Yes ☐ No ☒
If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes ☐ No ☒
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 ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted 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 such files).
Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |
| Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Emerging growth company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, 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. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:
| U.S. GAAP ☒ | International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ☐ | Other ☐ |
If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐
If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
| Auditor Name: | Auditor Location: | Auditor Firm ID: | ||
| WWC, P.C. | San Mateo, California | 1171 |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Earlyworks Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) is filing this Amendment No. 1 (this “Amendment No. 1”) to its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2023, as originally filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on September 15, 2023 (the “Original Annual Report”), solely for the purpose of amending and restating in its entirety “Item 15. Controls and Procedures” in the Original Annual Report in response to a comment from the staff of the SEC.
This Amendment No. 1 speaks as of the date of the Original Annual Report. Other than as set forth above, this Amendment No. 1 does not, and does not purport to, amend, update or restate in any way the financial statements or any other item contained in the Original Annual Report as originally filed with the SEC. As a result, this Amendment No. 1 does not reflect any events that may have occurred after the filing of the Original Annual Report on September 15, 2023. Accordingly, this Amendment No. 1 should be read in conjunction with the Original Annual Report and the Company’s other filings with, and reports furnished to, the SEC subsequent to September 15, 2023.
As required by Rule 12b-15 of the Exchange Act, the Company is filing or furnishing the certifications required under Section 302 and Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as exhibits to this Amendment No. 1.
Item 15. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has performed an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this report, as required by Rule 13a-15(b) under the Exchange Act.
Based on that evaluation, our management has concluded that, as of April 30, 2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to the following material weakness: we do not have sufficient in-house personnel with sufficient knowledge of the U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting rules.
Our management is in the process of evaluating the steps necessary to remediate the ineffectiveness, such as (1) hiring more qualified staff equipped with relevant U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting experience and qualifications, (2) increasing the number of experienced and qualified staff members in the accounting department and strengthening the company’s internal structure regarding financial reporting and disclosure, (3) implementing regular and continuous U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting training programs for our in-house personnel, and (4) engaging an external consulting firm to help us assess our compliance readiness under Rule 13a-15 of the Exchange Act and improve our disclosure controls and procedures. We have entered into an advisory agreement with a certified public accountant who has experience in working for a publicly traded company and expertise in U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting. And our Chief Financial Officer has various accounting qualifications including the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants qualification. In the future, we plan to hire more talented personnel with even more experience and expertise to enhance our disclosure controls and procedures.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
This annual report does not include a report of management’s assessment regarding internal control over financial reporting or an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by rules of the SEC for newly public companies.
Attestation Report of the Registered Public Accounting Firm
This annual report on Form 20-F 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 rules of the SEC where domestic and foreign registrants that are non-accelerated filers, which we are, and “emerging growth companies,” which we also are, are not required to provide the auditor attestation report.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal controls over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this annual report on Form 20-F that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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Part III
Item 19. EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT INDEX
| * | Filed with this Amendment No. 1 |
| ** | Furnished with this Amendment No. 1 |
| *** | Previously filed with the Original Annual Report |
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SIGNATURES
The registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 20-F and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign this annual report on its behalf.
| Earlyworks Co., Ltd. | ||
| By: | /s/ Satoshi Kobayashi | |
| Satoshi Kobayashi | ||
| Chief Executive Officer and Representative Director | ||
| (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
| Date: December 27, 2023 | ||
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