UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One) 

☒ ANNUAL REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018

☐ TRANSITION REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _______________ to _______________

Commission File No: 000-54998

CONSUMER CAPITAL GROUP, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (646) 346-3735

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

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

            Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share            

(Title of Class)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. 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 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 if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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. ☐

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

State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter (June 30, 2018): $72,408,485.

As of March 29, 2019, the registrant had 27,208,849 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

List hereunder the following documents if incorporated by reference and the Part of the Form 10-K (e.g., Part I, Part II, etc.) into which the document is incorporated: None.

CONSUMER CAPITAL GROUP, INC.

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are “forward-looking statements” made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding the plans and objectives of management for future operations. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements use words such as “believe,” “expect,” “should,” “strive,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate” or similar expressions. The forward-looking statements included herein are based on our current beliefs, assumptions, and expectations, and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Our plans and objectives are based, in part, on assumptions of the continuing expansion of business. Assumptions relating to the foregoing involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions, and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately, and many of which are beyond our control. Although we believe our assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Should any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in this report as anticipated, estimated or expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this report, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, other than as required by law. In light of these assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, the forward-looking events discussed in this report might not occur and actual results and events may vary significantly from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.

All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including statements regarding new and existing products and opportunities; statements regarding market and industry segment growth and demand and acceptance of new and existing products; any projections of sales, earnings, revenue, margins or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; uncertainties related to conducting business in China; any statements of belief or intention; any of the factors mentioned in the “Risk Factors” section of this Form 10-K; and any statements or assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Also, forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this report. You should read this report and the documents that we reference in this report, or that we filed as exhibits to this report, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect.

USE OF CERTAIN DEFINED TERMS

In this annual report, unless otherwise noted or as the context otherwise requires, “Consumer Capital,” the “Company,” “CCGN,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refers to the combined business of (i) Consumer Capital Group, Inc. (“Consumer Capital”), a corporation formed under the laws of the Delaware, (ii) Arki (Beijing) E-Commerce Technology Corp. (“Arki E-Commerce”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Consumer Capital and a wholly foreign-owned enterprise (“WFOE”) formed under the laws of the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”), (iii) America Pine (Beijing) Bio-Tech Inc. (“America Pine”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Consumer Capital and a WFOE formed under the laws of the PRC, (iv) America Arki (Fuxin) Network Management Co. Ltd. (“America Arki”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Consumer Capital and a WFOE formed under the laws of the PRC, (v) America Arki Network Service Beijing Co., Ltd. (“Arki Network”), a variable interest entity (“VIE”) and a limited liability company formed under the laws of the PRC controlled by Jianmin Gao and Fei Gao, (vi) America Arki (Tianjin) Capital Management Partnership (“Arki Capital”), a 51%-owned subsidiary of Arki Network and a limited partnership formed under the laws of the PRC, (vii) Arki (Tianjin) E-Commerce, Ltd. (“Arki Tianjin E-Commerce”), a 100%-owned subsidiary of Arki Network formed under the laws of the PRC, and (viii) Arki (Guangzhou) Investment Consulting Co. (“Arki Guangzhou”), a 100%-owned subsidiary of Arki Capital formed under the laws of the PRC

For the sake of clarity, this prospectus follows English naming convention of first name followed by last name, regardless of whether an individual’s name is Chinese or English. For example, the name of our Chief Executive Officer will be presented as “Jianmin Gao,” even though, in Chinese, Mr. Gao’s name is presented as “Gao Jianmin.”

PART I

Overview

We strive to become a one-stop shop that focuses on lending service for car dealerships in China. We are primarily engaged in the business of microfinancing services. We operate our direct microfinancing business through our variable interest entity, or “VIE”, Arki Network and its subsidiaries, Arki Capital, Arki Tianjin E-Commerce and Arki Guangzhou. With the increased difficulty of obtaining sufficient financing through traditional channels by car dealerships, we offer them alternative financing means through risk-controlled private lending to meet their capital needs and develop their business. We offer advisory and risk assessment services to both lenders and borrowers to help increase the efficiency of loan origination by financial institutions. It is our belief that the growth of car dealerships will become an important factor of China’s economic growth in the next decade. We believe that our expertise in streamlining microfinancing process will place our company in a unique position in the marketplace.

Our Business

Microfinancing

Currently, we engage in microfinancing business through our VIE, Arki Network and its subsidiaries, Arki Capital and Arki Tianjin E-Commerce, to provide direct loans primarily to car dealerships based in Liaoning Province. Our relationship with Arki Network is governed by a series of contractual relationships among Arki Network, the shareholders of Arki Network, and two of our subsidiaries, Arki E-Commerce and America Arki. However, effective in June 2018, America Arki ceased operations and cancelled its registration records. The cessation of America Arki’s operations does not represent a strategic shift with a material effect on the Company’s operations and financial results and America Arki is not accounted for discontinued operation in the consolidated financial statements. Subsequent to the cessation of America Arki’s operations, our relationship with Arki Network continues to be governed by the ongoing contractual arrangements with Arki E-Commerce.

Prior to focusing our targeted customer basis on car dealerships, we provided loans to small and medium sized enterprises and sole proprietors. We do not lend to individuals. Through Arki Network’s collaboration with China UnionPay Merchant Service (Liaoning) Co. Ltd (“UnionPay Liaoning”), Arki Capital provides private loans to borrowers (primarily, car dealerships) for a service fee of 5%, and Arki Network and UnionPay Liaoning act as intermediaries to facilitate the loan transactions. Arki Network charges a service fee of 3% of the loan proceeds, of which 0.5% is paid to UnionPay Liaoning.

We believe that UnionPay Liaoning is incentivized to recommend as many borrowers to us as possible as the potential for additional service fees is a source of revenue for their operation. In China, the UnionPay cards are directly connected to the related bank accounts of the end user. The limit of the card is the balance of the related bank accounts. We have a contractual arrangement with UnionPay to provide us with such information and related due diligence information on car dealers and their customers.

The nature of the UnionPay bank card in China is similar to checking accounts that are widely used in the United States. Therefore, consumers in China purchase cars using their UnionPay bank cards, not credit cards, and through our relationship with UnionPay we can undertake due diligence on the car purchasers which assist us in analyzing the volume and credit worthiness of the car dealers to whom we are making loans.

Since the beginning of 2017, we have been focusing our microfinancing business customer basis on car dealerships pre-screened by UnionPay Liaoning based on historical sales volume generated through bank card transactions using UnionPay’s system. Once a car dealership submits a loan application to us, along with a recommendation letter provided by UnionPay Liaoning, Arki Network’s loan servicing team conducts additional due diligence on the quality of the borrowers. The loan servicing team first makes sure that the business is duly incorporated and in good standing with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. The servicing team will then check the business’s credit history based on public records provided by the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. The servicing team will also check business’s history with local tax authority to ensure that it does not have any outstanding tax liability. Lastly, the servicing team will conduct phone or in-person interview with the applicant to verify all necessary information. In certain instance, the servicing team may conduct arbitrary on-site visit to the business to assess the validity of the business. Upon completion of the background check by Arki Network’s servicing team, Arki Capital provides short-term loans in the form of original issue discount (“OID Loans”) to qualified borrowers with pre-set interest rate, terms and conditions.

Generally, the loan is made less upfront fees and payment of interest, and therefore we deem these loans original discount loans. While Arki E-Commerce collects the interest generated through these loans, Arki Network generates revenue through the service fee, typically 3%, due upon issuance of the OID Loans. With the exception of three companies for which we granted loans in the principal amount of RMB 1,000,000, we generally provide loans to businesses with annual revenue of at least RMB 2,000,000 (approximately US$285,714) with the following terms in order to lower default risk by the borrowers:

We granted the three larger loans outside of our general practice due our interest in diversifying our loan portfolio and testing out markets’ demand for such products. We have not received any bad debt in the last fiscal year.

Since the beginning of 2017, we have been focusing our microfinancing business customer basis on car dealerships. During 2018, we have provided 47 direct loans to car dealerships, totaling RMB98,300,000 (approximately $14,500,000), and we received full payment on all loans at maturity. All the loans provided by us in 2018 have a term of three (3) months with an interest rate of 2% per month, and the amount of the loans vary from RMB300,000 (approximately $43,801) to RMB4,000,000 (approximately $597,000).

Once a loan application is approved by Arki Network, Arki Capital provides funding for the loan to Arki Network, which in turn transfer the funding, net of its service fee, to UnionPay Liaoning, which will wire the loan funds after deducing its service fee to borrower’s bank account stored in its system, which is the same account borrower uses for receivables from its credit card transactions with UnionPay Liaoning. Once payments are due from the borrower, the borrower will send each tranche of repayment directly to Arki Network through UnionPay’s payment processing system and Arki Network will transfer the repayment back to Arki Capital. Neither UnionPay nor Arki Network charges any service fee to process the repayments.

Because there are a growing number of car dealerships throughout China, we believe that our microfinancing model offers substantial market potential and intend to devote additional resources to apply the business model in other regions throughout China.

Investment Opportunity Marketing

Arki Network, through its 51%-owned subsidiary, Arki Capital, engages in the business of marketing investment opportunities. In essence, this business has provided a source funds used to make loans to the microfinancing businesses. Arki Capital operates its business on its financial advisory platform “Bangnitou”, which translates to “Help You Invest” in English and attracts capital from investors to invest in fixed income opportunities such as inter-bank loans, currency exchange products and other debt and equity investment opportunities to help investors obtain a return on their investment. Among the potential investment opportunities for this business are the car dealerships loans that are made through Arki Network. Still at its development stage, Bangnitou will have a number of financial products that aims to generate annual return ranging from 8-12%.  Once each product reaches its maximum subscription or the end of its offering period, the investments are held for a period of time before being redeemable by the investors, along with the return. As of December 31, 2018, Arki has received funds of RMB 6,440,000 (approximately $961,000), which were presented as cash as an asset and loan payable as a liability on our consolidated balance sheet. The funds carry terms between 6 months and 2 years, without interest. Upon the redemption date, the investors may demand back the funding or stay on as a limited partner. Since the beginning of 2018, we have been focusing on providing loans to car dealerships and Arki Capital is generating revenues from the borrowers’ interest payments. As of December 31, 2018, Arki Capital owns 750,000 shares of the Company’s stock. Arki Capital has not sold any of these shares as of yet, and therefore has not generated any revenue.

Our subsidiaries in the PRC (primarily, Arki Capital) obtain loans from lenders/investors through the Bangnitou platform. Arki Capital receives the loan funds and allows investors two options regarding repayment. In alternative A, investors may elect to receive a return of principal together with the interest at the end of the investment period (other than the prepaid interest amount). No other interest is paid during the loan period. In alternative B, the investors may elect to receive repayment through shares of the Company’s common stock at a pre-determined conversion rate. Interest, other than prepaid interest, is payable at the end of the loan term, either in cash or in additional shares of our common stock. Any shares of the Company that may be issued as part of this business line are shares previously obtained by Arki Capital from a third-party non-affiliate shareholder. This business is not conducted in the United States.

Arki Capital was established under PRC Partnership Law as a limited partnership on October 22, 2015. Its registered business includes Internet asset allocation management, capital restructuring consulting, equity investment services. As all partnerships in China have an initial term of 15 years based on the Partnership Law, the term of the operating agreement is 15 years from October 15, 2015. As long as the general partners or one general partner and at least one limited partner elect to continue the partnership, the partnership can continue after the initial term. The total subscribed capital is RMB100,000,000 (approximately US$15,728,959 based on the exchange rate of 6.3577 on October 22, 2015). Arki Network holds 51% of the subscribed capital contribution and assumes unlimited liability as a general partner. Three limited partners, each holds 30%, 10% and 9% of the subscribed capital contribution and assumes limited liability to the extent of the capital contribution each subscribed. According to the operating agreement, profits are distributed once a year, or as otherwise decided by all the partners unanimously. The limited partners each agrees on a performance target each year and net income after expenses and taxes is distributed according to the actual performance of the respective partner. The limited partners are not personally liable for any debt of the partnership, other than for the amount already invested in the partnership and for any unpaid amount on the subscribed capital, if any. The general partners are personally liable for any debt of the partnership. The general partner is also the managing partner in charge of daily operation, including but not limited to, matters in the ordinary course of business, dispute resolution, accepting or rejecting new partners and existing partner’s exit request. Any changes to profits distribution, matters regarding eliminating partners and termination of the partnership shall be determined by all partners unanimously. Any other matters that require partners’ vote shall be determined by partner(s) holding a majority of the subscribed capital contribution. The general partner cannot exit unless it ceases to exist due to loss of civil capacity if an individual, or due to bankruptcy if an entity. The limited partnership shall terminate if (i) the 15-year term of the operating agreement has ended and the partners decide not to continue, (ii) all partners decide to terminate, (iii) there are only limited partners, (iv) there is only one partner for more than 30 days, (v) the purpose of the partnership has been achieve or has become impossible to achieve, (vi) the business license is suspended or canceled, and (vii) due to other applicable laws or regulations.

We expect Arki Capital to derive substantially all of its revenues from the return generated by the performance of the underlying investment products. It would keep all return in excess of the return that is marketed to the retail investors for the product.

Summary Financial Information

As of December 31, 2018, Consumer Capital DE had total assets of $5,453,305, total liabilities of $816,796, and total equity of $636,509; and for the fiscal year ended 2017, Consumer Capital DE had total assets of $5,454,496, a total liability of $726,728, and a total equity of $4,727,768. For the year ended December 31, 2018, Consumer Capital DE had a net loss of $90,759 and generated total revenues of $0; and for the year ended December 31, 2017, Consumer Capital DE had net income of $462,097 and generated revenues of $0. The net income in 2017 was mostly derived from debt relief by Yinhang on August 31, 2017, and partly due to a refund from the IRS for wrongfully garnished of federal income tax in the previous years. As of December 31, 2018, Consumer Capital DE had 3 employees.

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, Consumer Capital CA had total assets of $0, total liabilities of $0, total equity of $0. For the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, Consumer Capital CA had net income of $0 and generated revenues of $0. As of December 31, 2018, Consumer Capital CA had 0 employees.

As of December 31, 2018, Arki E-Commerce had total assets of $5,129,328, total liabilities of $15,822,493, and a total equity of $(10,693,165). As of December 31, 2017, Arki E-Commerce had total assets of $1,307,325, total liabilities of $2,431,996, and a total equity of $(1,124,672). For the year ended December 31, 2018, Arki E-Commerce had a net loss of $3,376,086 and generated total revenues of $0 and for the year ended December 31, 2017, Arki E-Commerce had a net loss of $1,126,542 and total revenues of $255,901. As of December 31, 2018, Arki E-Commerce had 3 employees.

As of December 31, 2018, American Pine had total assets of $2,993,581, total liabilities of $634,386, and a total equity of $2,359,195. As of December 31, 2017, American Pine had total assets of $460,320, total liabilities of $97,508, and total equity of $362,811. For the year ended December 31, 2018, American Pine had net loss of $1,244 and generated revenues of $0; and for the year ended December 31, 2017, American Pine had net income of $185,818 (due to the debt relief from Yinhang) and total revenues of $0. As of December 31, 2018, American Pine had 0 employees. Since this entity had no transaction in the past years, we are in the process of closing the entity during the current fiscal year and anticipate that this process will be complete during the second fiscal quarter of 2019.

As of December 31, 2018, Arki Network had total assets of $20,065,423, total liabilities of $31,913,693, and a total equity of $(11,848,270). As of December 31, 2017, Arki Network had total assets of $429,319, total liabilities of $1,956,632, and total equity of $(1,527,313). For the year ended December 31, 2018, Arki Network had a net loss of $1,911,617 and total revenues of $2,949,000; and for the year ended December 31, 2017, Arki Network had a net loss of $346,939 and total revenue of $0. As of December 31, 2018, Arki Network had 4 employees.

As of December 31, 2018, Arki Capital had total assets of $2,202,031, total liabilities of $4,800,199, and a total equity of $(1,325,066). As of December 31, 2017, Arki Capital had total assets of $2,202,031, total liabilities of $4,800,199, and total equity of $(1,325,066). For the year ended December 31, 2018, Arki Capital had a net loss of $10,856,300 and total revenues of $5,989,000; and for the year ended December 31, 2017, Arki Capital had a net loss of $1,081,966 and a total revenue of $0. As of December 31, 2018, Arki Capital had 5 employees.

As of December 31, 2018, Arki Tianjin E-Commerce had total assets of $2,189,979, total liabilities of $1,649,290, and a total equity of $540,689. For the year ended December 31, 2018, Arki Tianjin E-Commerce had a net loss of $563,429 and total revenues of $563,224. As of December 31, 2018, Arki Tianjin E-Commerce had 5 employees.

The assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and net income for the legal entities as of December 31, 2018 are as follows:

The assets of CCG DE as of December 31, 2018 are composed of the assets below:

The amount “Due from intercompany” of $2,019,192 was totally offset by due to intercompany in other subsidiaries and $3,379,970 was offset by equities in other subsidiaries or related entities, such as our VIE companies.

Corporate History and Organization

We were originally incorporated under the name “Mondas Minerals Corp.” in Delaware on April 25, 2008 and was engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of natural resource properties. The principal executive offices were previously located at 13983 West Stone Avenue, Post Falls, ID 83854.

We received our initial funding of $15,000 through the sale of common stock to our officer and director who purchased 1,500,000 shares of our common stock at $0.01 per share on May 13, 2008. In January 2010, we raised $1,457,818 from an offering of 1,000,000 shares pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC under file number 333-152330, which became effective on January 5, 2010. The offering was completed on January 27, 2010.

We were an exploration stage company with no revenues or operating history prior to our merger on February 4, 2011 described below. We owned a 100% undivided interest in a mineral property, the Ram 1-4 Mineral Claims (known as the “Ram Property.”) The Ram Property consists of an area of 82.64 acres located in the Lida Quadrangle Area, Esmeralda County, Nevada. Title to the Ram Property was held by Mondas. Our plan of operation was to conduct mineral exploration activities on the property in order to assess whether it contains mineral deposits capable of commercial extraction.

As of December 31, 2010, and immediately prior to the merger transaction described below, we were an exploration stage company with nominal assets, no revenues, or operating history. On January 11, 2011, we changed our fiscal year end from June 30 to December 31.

On February 4, 2011, we acquired Consumer Capital Group, Inc., a California corporation (“CCG California”), a consumer e-commerce business with operations in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) in a reverse merger transaction (the “Merger”) pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger (“Merger Agreement”) by and among us, our wholly owned subsidiary CCG Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation (“CCG Delaware”), CCG California, and Scott D. Bengfort.

In the Merger, CCG Delaware merged into CCG California with CCG California as the surviving corporation. As a result, CCG California became our wholly-owned subsidiary, and the subsidiaries of CCG Delaware including America Pine (Beijing) Bio-Tech, Inc. (“American Pine”), Arki (Beijing) E-Commerce Technology Corp. (“Arki E-Commerce”), Beijing Beitun Trading Co., Ltd. (since disposed in 2014), and America Arki (Fuxin) Network Management Co. Ltd. (“American Arki”), all of which are incorporated in China (together, the “PRC Subsidiaries”), became our indirect subsidiaries. Arki E-Commerce and America Arki have a contractual relationship with America Arki Network Service Beijing Co., Ltd. (“Arki Network”), a PRC limited liability company, which is 100% owned by two of CCG California’s former major shareholders and officers. CCG California, the PRC Subsidiaries, and Arki Network are collectively referred to as the “CCG Group.”

On January 7, 2011, we formed a new wholly-owned subsidiary by the name of “Consumer Capital Group Inc.” (“CCG Name Sub”) in Delaware solely for purposes of changing its corporate name to “Consumer Capital Group Inc.” in conjunction with the closing of the Merger. On February 17, 2011, we changed our name to Consumer Capital Group Inc. Pursuant to Certificate of Ownership filed with the Secretary of State of Delaware by merging CCG Name Sub into our company with our company surviving and CCG Name Sub ceasing to exist.

Under the Merger Agreement, we issued an aggregate of 17,777,778 shares of common stock to the shareholders of CCG California immediately prior to the Merger (“CCG Shareholders”) at an exchange rate of one (1) share of our common stock for each 21.96 shares of CCG California common stock.

Immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, there were 2,500,000 issued and outstanding shares of common stock, 60% of which were held by the then-principal stockholder, CEO, and sole director of our company, Mr. Bengfort. As a part of the Merger, CCG California paid USD $335,000 in cash to Mr. Bengfort in exchange for his agreement to enter into various transaction agreements relating to the Merger, as well as the cancellation of 1,388,889 shares of common stock directly held by him, constituting 92.6% of his pre-Merger holdings of our common stock.

In connection with the Merger, our mining rights were assigned to Mr. Bengfort, and in turn, Mr. Bengfort personally assumed all liabilities of our company existing immediately prior to the closing, under the terms of an Assignment and Assumption Agreement between our company and Mr. Bengfort effective on the closing date of the Merger (the “Assignment and Assumption Agreement”). Mr. Bengfort also agreed to discharge and forego his rights to be repaid approximately $16,000, which we owed to him immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, along with all other claims against us, by executing a release agreement (“Release”) effective on the closing date of the Merger. Mr. Bengfort also agreed to be a party to the Merger Agreement, including various representations and warranties. Further, Mr. Bengfort executed an indemnification agreement (“Indemnification Agreement”) in favor of CCG California and its shareholders to indemnify them for any breach of the Merger Agreement or unpaid or unresolved liabilities of our company that may materialize within a one-year period after the closing. The closing of the Merger was on February 4, 2011.

In connection with the closing, Mr. Bengfort resigned from his role as our sole officer and director. New directors took office, and appointed new officers promptly following the closing of the Merger.

Recent Business Developments

On December 1, 2016, Arki Network, a variable interest entity of the Company, entered into certain share exchange agreement with Yin Hang Financial Information Service (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a company established under the laws of the People’s Republic of China (“Yin Hang”). Pursuant to the agreement, the Company acquired 100% of the capital stock of Yin Hang in exchange for the issuance of 4,680,000 shares of Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, to Yin Hang’s shareholders, to be issued upon completion of audit of Yin Hang. On August 31, 2017, Arki Network and Yin Hang entered into a Supplementary Agreement and mutually agreed to terminate the share exchange agreement, effective immediately, because companies in the financial information industry are not permitted to be controlled by foreign companies outside of China. As a result of the termination, Yin Hang was no longer consolidated in the Company’s financial statements as of September 1, 2017.

On November 17, 2017, Arki Network, Beijing Shenzhou Rongtong Investment Management Co. Ltd. (“Shenzhou Rongtong”), a company organized under the law of People’s Republic of China, and all the shareholders of Shenzhou Rongtong entered into an equity transfer agreement, pursuant to which Arki Network agreed to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding equity securities of Shenzhou Rongtong from its shareholders, in exchange for the issuance of an aggregate of 4,175,417 shares of common stock of the Company, to the shareholders of Shenzhou Rongtong within 15 days of the closing of the transaction. In connection with the transaction, the Company also engaged a consultant to provide acquisition-related services, which services were paid for through the issuance of 824,583 shares of Common Stock. The transaction failed to go through as at December 31, 2017 and all of the shares were returned and cancelled.

Subsequently, the parties mutually terminated the Agreement through a termination agreement dated March 29, 2018 between Arki Network and Shenzhou Rongtong. Under the Equity Transfer termination agreement, the shareholders of Shenzhou Rongtong returned to the Company 4,175,417 shares of common stock of the Company, and the Company returned all of Shenzhou Rongtong’s issued and outstanding equity securities to the shareholders of Shenzhou Rongtong.

Effective on June 26, 2018, one of the Company’s subsidiary, America Arki, ceased operation and cancelled its registration records. The disposal of America Arki did not represent a strategic shift that has a major effect on the Company’s operations and financial results and it is not accounted for as a discontinued operation in the consolidated financial statements.

On August 21, 2018, we incorporated Arki (Tianjin) E-Commerce Ltd. (“Arki Tianjin E-Commerce”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arki Network and a limited liability company formed under the laws of the PRC. We are developing the e-commerce business for art and antique through Arki Network and Arki Tianjin E-Commerce. This entity operates our consumer marketing website, www.ccmus.com, and our art and antique website, wancang.net.

On March 21, 2019, we established Arki (Guangzhou) Investment Consulting Co. Ltd. in Guangzhou, China which is 100% owned by Arki Capital. Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province, and it is the center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This area has been established as a special development area by the Chinese government in February 2019, and we intend to further develop our business, especially the Bangnitou business, in this area. The registered capital of the company is RMB 200,000. We intend to explore additional related business opportunities in this area in the near future.

Changes to Business

Ceased Businesses

E-Commerce Business for Healthcare Products

The founders of the CCG Group formed America Pine California in California on November 27, 2006. America Pine was in the business of selling healthcare products imported from the United States of America to residents in the PRC via internet. The founders formed America Pine in the PRC on March 21, 2007 as a wholly owned subsidiary of America Pine California to conduct operations for this business in the PRC. These operations ceased on February 5, 2010.

The founders formed Arki E-Commerce in the PRC on March 6, 2008 as a wholly owned subsidiary of America Pine California with an intention to develop the CCG Group’s consumer e-commerce business.

On February 5, 2010, in connection with the execution of a Stock Right Transfer Agreement, America Pine California transferred all of its equity interests in both Arki Beijing and America Pine Beijing to CCG California, which was formed in California on October 14, 2009.

On November 26, 2010, CCG California formed America Arki, a PRC WFOE, as its wholly owned subsidiary.

On November 26, 2010, Arki E-Commerce, Arki Network, and Arki Network’s shareholders entered into contractual arrangements, and on December 2010, America Arki, Arki Network Service, and Arki Network’ shareholders entered into contractual arrangements, to operate Company’s consumer e-commerce website. Arki Network is owned by, Mr. Jianmin Gao and Mr. Fei Gao, CCG’s two largest shareholders, and Lihua Xiao. These arrangements are more fully described below under “Corporate Structure.” Because of the lack of sales generated on our online retail platforms, we ceased our E-commerce business in first quarter of 2015.

Distribution Business

On November 29, 2010, CCG California received approval from the Beijing Fangshan District Business Council in the PRC to acquire the controlling interest of Beitun Trading Co. Ltd. (“Beitun Trading”). Beitun Trading had a registered capital of RMB500,000 (approximately $80,250), of which RMB255,000 (approximately $40,928) was contributed by CCG and RMB245,000 (approximately $39,323) was contributed by Wei Guo. Effectively, CCG had control of 51% of Beitun Trading, and Wei Guo owned 49% of Beitun Trading. Through Beitun Trading, we engaged in the wholesale distribution of various food and meat products. On April 1, 2014, we entered into an agreement to sell our 51% interest in Beitun Trading to Zhang Yifan in exchange for cash payment of RMB 255,000. We have since ceased our distribution business.

Debit Card Program

The Company cooperated with a Fuxin Bank, a retail bank in the PRC, to issue cobranded debit cards. Retail store vendors throughout China were signed up to the Company’s debit card program. The Company charged each participating vendor a percentage of transactions with that vendor. Each vendor received a percentage of future transactions of the cards issued by the vendor. Cardholders received certain amounts of cash refund from participating vendors and earned points to be spent on www.ccmus.com. We ceased such operation in 2015.

Peer-to-Peer Lending

On December 23, 2014, the Company and Shanghai Zhonghui Financial Information Services Corp., a company established under the laws of People’s Republic of China, entered into a Share Exchange Agreement (the “Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to acquire 51% of the capital stock of Shanghai Zhonghui (the “Acquisition”). Pursuant to the term of the Agreement, the Company agreed to issue 5,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”), to certain individuals affiliated with Shanghai Zhonghui (the “Zhonghui Affiliates”), valued at $1.00 per share for a total of $5,000,000 or approximately 31,000,000 RMB, to exchange 51% of the capital stock of Shanghai Zhonghui. As incentive for the closing of the Acquisition, the Company also agreed to issue to the Affiliates 5,000,000 additional shares of the Common Stock.

Established on May 26, 2014, under the PRC laws, Shanghai Zhonghui offered a peer-to-peer lending platform that provided financing and investment opportunities for small to medium sized business and investors, including outsource of financial information technologies, investment management, investment consulting, as well as other related asset management services in China.

On December 28, 2016, upon approval by the majority shareholder and Board of Directors of the Company and Arki Network, Arki Network entered into certain business sale agreement with Yanbian YaoTian Gas Group Co., Ltd, a company organized under the laws of the PRC whereby Arki Network sold all of its interest in Shanghai Zhonghui for no consideration.

We have since ceased our peer-to-peer lending business.

Financial Advisory Service

On December 1, 2016, the Company, through its variable interest entity, Arki Network, entered into certain Share Exchange Agreement with Yin Hang Financial Information Service (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a company established under the laws of the People’s Republic of China (“Yin Hang”). Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company agreed to acquire 100% of the capital stock of Yin Hang in exchange for the issuance of 4,680,000 shares of Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, to Yin Hang’s shareholders, to be issued upon completion of audit of Yin Hang.

Through Yin Hang, we offered financial consulting services such as loan origination criteria checkup, risk assessment and loan monitoring to SMEs and financial institutions in China. Yin Hang began its operation in 2013 and has developed its own big data risk assessment system to provide credit rating and risk management solutions to borrowers and financial institutions to facilitate loan origination process and reduce default risks for all parties involved in a particular lending transaction. Based on the loan transactions, the service fee is typically between 15-24% of the loan amount, to be covered by the borrowers.

Yin Hang provided its services to a range of industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, servicing and consumer product sectors. Company’s core value relies on the big data it has collected based on borrower’s demographics and psychographics in the past. Using Yin Hang’s risk assessment system, lenders were able to reduce its risk and improve the performance of its loan portfolio by only lending to borrowers that the assessment system pre-approves. On the other hand, borrowers using the system was able to receive a credit assessment that could serve as an independent valuation for the lender in addition to lender’s own credit assessment team. In addition to the risk assessment service, Yin Hang was also able to provide lenders with loan monitoring and collection service.

On August 31, 2017, Arki Network and Yin Hang entered into a Supplementary Agreement and mutually agreed to terminate the Share Exchange Agreement, effective immediately, because companies in the financial industry are not permitted to be controlled by foreign companies outside of China. As a result of the termination, Yin Hang was no longer consolidated in the Company’s financial statements as of September 1, 2017 and we have ceased our financial advisory business.

Corporate Structure

As discussed above, we are a holding company incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on April 25, 2008. Through acquisitions and mergers, we are the parent company of (i) Consumer Capital Group Inc., a California corporation, (ii) Arki (Beijing) E-Commerce Technology Corp., a WFOE formed under the laws of the PRC on March 6, 2008 with a registered capital of US$300,000 and legal representative of Jianmin Gao, (iii) America Pine (Beijing) Bio-Tech Inc., a WFOE formed under the law of the PRC on March 21, 2007 with a registered capital of approximately US$330,000 and legal representative of Jianmin Gao and (iv) America Arki (Fuxin) Network Management Co. Ltd., a WFOE formed under the laws of the PRC on November 25, 2010 with a registered capital of US$200,000 and legal representative of Jianming Gao. As stated above, the operations of America Arki (Fuxin) ceased in June 2018. Further, we established Arki Tianjin E-Commerce, a VIE formed under the laws of the PRC on August 21, 2018 with a registered capital of RMB10 million (Approximately $1,480,000) and the legal representative of Fei Gao.

Contractual Arrangements among Arki E-Commerce, Arki Network, and America Arki

Our relationships with Arki Network, its stockholders, and Arki E-Commerce are governed by a series of contractual arrangements, as we (including our direct and indirect subsidiaries) do not own any equity interests in Arki Network. PRC law currently has limits on foreign ownership of certain companies. These businesses are our VIE businesses. To comply with these restrictions, Arki Network and its shareholders entered into two sets of contractual arrangements with Arki E-Commerce and America Arki in November 2010. As discussed above, during 2018, the operations of American Arki were discontinued and currently, our relationship with Arki Network continues to be governed by the ongoing contractual arrangements with Arki E-Commerce. These contractual arrangements are described below:

Powers of Attorney. The equity owners of Arki Network irrevocably appointed Arki E-Commerce and formerly, America Arki to vote on their behalf on all matters they are entitled to vote on, including matters relating to the transfer of any or all of their respective equity interests in the entity and the appointment of the chief executive officer and other senior management members.

Share Pledge Agreements. The equity owners of Arki Network pledged their respective equity interests in the entity as a guarantee for the payment by the entity of consulting and services fees under the business cooperation agreements and repayment under the loan agreements.  

Business Cooperation Agreement. Arki E-Commerce, Arkin Tianjin E-Commerce, and America Arki (through June 2018) provides the entity with technical support, consulting services, and other commercial services to Arki Network. The initial term of these agreements is ten years. In consideration for those services, Arki Network agrees to pay Arki E-Commerce and America Arki service fees. The service fees are eliminated upon consolidation. Due to the cessation of America Arki’s operations, the services and consideration contemplated by this agreement have terminated and are solely governed by the agreement with Arki E-Commerce.

Loan Agreements. Loans were granted to the equity owners of Arki Network by America Arki (through June 2018) with the sole and exclusive purpose of providing funds necessary for its capitalization as required by the laws of the PRC.

Exclusive Option Agreements. Shareholders of Arki Network granted an option contract to Arki E-Commerce and America Arki (through June 2018) to purchase their respective equity interests in the entity. As of the date of this report, we conduct substantially all of our business operations through Arki E-Commerce, which holds substantial control over Arki Network’s operations through their contractual arrangements. Upon the cessation of America Arki’s operations, this option contract with America Arki is no longer effective. The option with Arki E-Commerce remains in effect.

The following diagram illustrates our current corporate structure:

Our Industry

According to a working paper published by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, despite their on-going contributions to China’s economic development, small small-to-medium sized enterprises (“SMEs”) face significant barriers in accessing credit from state-owned commercial banks. In 2013, only 23.2 percent of bank loans were extended to SMEs. Access to working capital loans is even more restricted: only 4.7 percent of short-term loans went to SMEs. Given these structural constraints on private sector borrowing from state banks, China’s SMEs have depended on non-banking sources of credit since the earliest years of economic reform. In surveys of private businesses conducted during the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, over two-thirds of the respondents indicated that they had relied on some form of informal finance. More recent research indicates that reliance on non-banking financing mechanisms has not abated. A World Bank survey of 2,700 private companies in 2011 to 2013 found that only 25 percent had bank credit and 90 percent drew on internal financing. Within that period, a 2012 survey of SMEs in fifteen provinces conducted by China’s Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) found that 57.5 percent had participated in informal credit markets. The bi-annual national surveys private enterprises administered by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce consistently find that ‘accessing bank credit’ is among the top self-reported challenges facing the private sector. As such, SMEs in China continue to rely heavily on non-banking financial intermediaries. (Source: Financing Small and Medium Enterprises in China: Recent Trends and Prospects beyond Shadow Banking, Kellee S. Tsai, HKUST IEMS Working Paper No. 2015-24, May 2015).

In China, the reliance on these non-banking financial intermediaries represents a market response to a combination of policy restrictions and related political priorities. At the most basic level, financial repression allows SOEs to receive subsidized credit, while inhibiting the ability of banks to price loans for higher risk SMEs. As such, since the earliest years of reform, various types of informal financial intermediaries and non-banking financial intermediaries have emerged to fill the SME funding gap. Some lend directly to private businesses, while others guarantee loans from commercial banks. Meanwhile, artificial suppression of deposit rates has driven savers to seek higher returns from other investment opportunities. Banks thus turned to off-balance sheet products to generate earnings from alternative sectors. The recent rise of on-line P2P lending platforms bypasses the banking system altogether by brokering between SMEs and private lenders/investors. This imbalance between supply and demand for capital among SMEs therefore presents business opportunities for us.

Business Strategy

We plan to implement two primary strategies to expand our market presence within the industry: (i) increase Arki Network’s lending capacity through the cash generated from operations and additional capital that the Company is able to raise; and (ii) expand the Company’s geographic coverage for both microfinancing and investment marketing business to major metropolitan areas such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou through the establishment of sales force. We believe that we can experience significant growth in these areas because there is a large number of established car dealerships in need of cash liquidity but lack the ability to finance either due to their limited size of business or local banks’ preferences to finance bigger and more established companies. In addition, we believe that our investment opportunity marketing business will be able to provide potential investors a more attractive return comparing to traditional investment products.

We also plan to develop, through Arki Network and its subsidiary Arki Tianjin E-Commerce, an e-commerce online marketplace – Wan Cang World (www.wancang.org) where users can buy and sell art and antiques, including coins, jade, china, paintings, jewelry, furniture, and so on. We plan to provide a platform where the art can be showcased, appreciated and verified, exchanged and liquidated. We have also engaged professional appraisal team to assess the quality and value of the art on the marketplace. We also have an offline action house where jewelry and other more valuable art are auctioned.

Competitive Strengths

Although we operate in a highly-competitive industry, we believe that the following factors provide us with the competitive advantage in the marketplace that could differentiate us from our potential competitors:

Competition  

The microfinancing industry in China is intensely competitive and we compete with companies of various sizes. We believe that our major competition come from three sectors. First, many local banks and financial institutions, especially those located in Tier 2 or 3 cities in China have started engaging in lending business to finance SMEs locally. The banks and institutions have long-lasting relationships with the businesses locally. In addition, because most of the banks in China are state-owned enterprises (“SOEs”) or invested by SOEs, they have much more financial resources than we do. Second, we compete with many peer-to-peer lending platforms that match lenders and borrowers. Our key competitors include Yirendai, which is a public company listed on the NYSE, Ren Ren Dai and Lufax. Lastly, there are many private lending companies throughout China. In order to compete with them, including some of more established ones, we will need to be able to provide products that would be more attractive to the borrowers, including lower interest rate or free of collateral. We also compete with other financial products that attract borrowers. For example, we compete with traditional financial institutions, such as consumer finance business units in commercial banks, credit card issuers and other consumer finance companies. In light of the low barriers to entry in the microfinancing industry, more players may enter this market and increase the level of competition. We anticipate that more established internet, technology and financial services companies that possess large, existing user bases, substantial financial resources and established distribution channels may enter the market in the future.

Intellectual Property

We regard our domain names, know-how, proprietary technologies and similar intellectual property as critical to our success, and we rely on trademark and trade secret law and confidentiality, invention assignment and non-compete agreements with our employees and others to protect our proprietary rights.

Trademarks

No.		Registrant		Trademark		Valid Through		Application Area
1		Arki (Beijing) E-Commerce Technology Corp.				2021/7/20		Technology research; research and development; computer software maintenance; computer system analysis; computer system design; website maintenance; transforming physical data into digital data; internet search engine
2		Arki (Beijing) E-Commerce Technology Corp.				2022/2/27		Technology research; research and development; computer software maintenance; computer system analysis; computer system design; website maintenance; transforming physical data into digital data; internet search engine.
3		Arki (Beijing) E-Commerce Technology Corp.				2023/2/6		Insurance; capital investment; equity fund investment; collection’ financial service; real estate leasing; brokerage; guaranty; trust; pawn.
4		America Arki Network Service Beijing Co., Ltd.				2024/8/13		n/a
5		America Arki Network Service Beijing Co., Ltd.				2024/6/6		n/a
6		America Arki Network Service Beijing Co., Ltd.				2024/6/20		n/a
7		America Arki Network Service Beijing Co., Ltd.				2024/8/13		n/a

Domains

Consumer Capital Group Inc. has one domain name: www.ccgusa.com.

Arki Network holds the ICP license issued by the Beijing Communications Control Bureau No. 100852 on June 28, 2013. We have registered three websites using this ICP license: www.ccmus.com, www.bangnitou.net, and www.wancang.org. The domains www.ccmus.com and www.wancang.org were created for our E-Commerce business and www.bangnitou.net, which also has a corresponding mobile application, has been created for our business of marketing investment opportunities. As discussed elsewhere in this report, neither business has generated substantial revenue as of today, if any.

Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our technology. Monitoring unauthorized use of our technology is difficult and costly, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation of our technology. From time to time, we may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources.

In addition, third parties may initiate litigation against us alleging infringement of their proprietary rights or declaring their non-infringement of our intellectual property rights. In the event of a successful claim of infringement and our failure or inability to develop non-infringing technology or license the infringed or similar technology on a timely basis, our business could be harmed. Moreover, even if we are able to license the infringed or similar technology, license fees could be substantial and may adversely affect our results of operations.

Marketing and Sales

Microfinancing Business

Pursuant to the collaboration agreement between Arki Network and UnionPay Liaoning, we do not engage in any substantial marketing efforts for our microfinancing business. However, because UnionPay is incentivized to market our loan products to their clients and almost all businesses in China use UnionPay as their primary credit card processing company, we believe that the lack of marketing efforts on our own will not significantly deter the development of our business.

Investment Opportunity Marketing

While we have had limited operation and income from our investment opportunity marketing business, the existing clients have come to us through referrals from existing relationships and we believe word-of-mouth is an especially effective marketing tool for the investment opportunity marketing product, as our product mainly targets retail investors. We intend to engage in nationwide marketing initiatives to further raise our brand awareness while continuing to improve client satisfaction to strengthen our word-of-mouth referrals. We also encourage our employees to introduce or recommend new clients to us by providing incentive bonus. This business is operated through the Bangnitou website platform which had limited operations during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Insurance

We maintain property insurance policies covering certain equipment and other property that are essential to our business operation to safeguard against risks and unexpected events. We also provide social security insurance including pension insurance, unemployment insurance, work-related injury insurance and medical insurance for our employees. We do not maintain business interruption insurance or general third-party liability insurance, nor do we maintain product liability insurance or key-man insurance. We consider our insurance coverage to be sufficient for our business operations in China.

Seasonality

We experience seasonality in our business, reflecting seasonal fluctuations in internet usage and traditional personal consumption patterns, as our individual borrowers typically use their borrowing proceeds to finance their personal consumption needs. For example, we generally experience lower transaction value on our online consumer finance marketplace during national holidays in China, particularly during the Chinese New Year holiday season in the first quarter of each year. Overall, the historical seasonality of our business has been mild due to our rapid growth but may increase further in the future. Due to our limited operating history, the seasonal trends that we have experienced in the past may not apply to, or be indicative of, our future operating results.

PRC Regulations

Online commerce in China is subject to a number of laws and regulations. This section summarizes all material PRC laws and regulations relevant to our business and operations in China and the key provisions of such regulations.

Corporate Laws and Industry Catalogue Relating to Foreign Investment

The establishment, operation, and management of corporate entities in China are governed by the Company Law of the PRC, or the Company Law, effective in 1994, as amended in 1999, 2004, and 2005, respectively. The Company Law is applicable to our PRC subsidiaries and affiliated PRC entity unless the PRC laws on foreign investment have stipulated otherwise.

The establishment, approval, registered capital requirement, and day-to-day operational matters of wholly foreign-owned enterprises (“WFOE”), such as our PRC subsidiary, Arki Network, are regulated by the WFOE Law of the PRC effective in 1986, as amended in 2000, and the Implementation Rules of the WFOE Law of the PRC effective in 1990, as amended in 2001. 

Investment activities in the PRC by foreign investors are principally governed by the Guidance Catalogue of Industries for Foreign Investment, or the Catalogue, which was promulgated and is amended from time to time by the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission. The Catalogue divides industries into three categories: encouraged, restricted, and prohibited. Industries not listed in the Catalogue are generally open to foreign investment unless specifically restricted by other PRC regulations.

Establishment of WFOEs is generally permitted in encouraged industries. Some restricted industries are limited to equity or contractual joint ventures, while in some cases Chinese partners are required to hold the majority interests in such joint ventures. For example, sales and distribution of audio and video products are among the restricted categories, and only contractual joint ventures in which Chinese partners holding majority interests can engage in the distribution of audio and video products in China. In addition, restricted category projects are also subject to higher-level government approvals. Foreign investors are not allowed to invest in industries in the prohibited category.

Regulations Relating to Telecommunications Services

In September 2000, the State Council issued the Regulations on Telecommunications of China (“the Telecommunications Regulations”), to regulate telecommunications activities in China. The telecommunications industry in China is governed by a licensing system based on the classifications of the telecommunications services set forth under the Telecommunications Regulations.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (“MIIT”) together with the provincial-level communications administrative bureaus, supervises and regulates the telecommunications industry in China. The Telecommunications Regulations divide the telecommunications services into two categories: infrastructure telecommunications services and value-added telecommunications services. The operation of value-added telecommunications services is subject to the examination, approval, and the granting of licenses by MIIT or the provincial-level communications administrative bureaus. According to the Catalogue of Classification of Telecommunications Businesses effective in April 2003, provision of information services through the internet, such as the operation of our website, is classified as value-added telecommunications services.

Regulations Relating to Foreign Investment in Value-added Telecommunications Industry

According to the Administrative Rules for Foreign Investment in Telecommunications Enterprises issued by the State Council effective in January 2002, as amended in September 2008, a foreign investor may hold no more than a 50% equity interest in a value-added telecommunications services provider in China, and such foreign investor must have experience in providing value-added telecommunications services overseas and maintain a good track record.

The Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in and Operation of Value-added Telecommunications Business (the “Circular”), issued by the former Ministry of Information Industry (“MII”) in July 2006, reiterated the regulations on foreign investment in telecommunications businesses, which require foreign investors to set up foreign-invested enterprises and obtain an internet content provider, or ICP, license to conduct any value-added telecommunications business in China. Under the Circular, a domestic company that holds an ICP license is prohibited from leasing, transferring, or selling the license to foreign investors in any form, and from providing any assistance, including providing resources, sites, or facilities, to foreign investors that conduct value-added telecommunications business illegally in China. Furthermore, certain relevant assets, such as the relevant trademarks and domain names that are used in the value-added telecommunications business must be owned by the local ICP license holder or its shareholders. The Circular further requires each ICP license holder to have the necessary facilities for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered by its license. In addition, all value-added telecommunications service providers are required to maintain network and information security in accordance with the standards set forth under relevant PRC regulations. If an ICP license holder fails to comply with the requirements in the Circular and also fails to remedy such non-compliance within a specified period of time, MII or its local counterparts have the discretion to take administrative measures against such license holder, including revoking its ICP license. We believe Arki Network is in compliance with the Circular. 

Regulations Relating to Internet Information Services and Content of Internet Information

In September 2000, the State Council issued the Administrative Measures on Internet Information Services (“the Internet Measures”), to regulate the provision of information services to online users through the internet. According to the Internet Measures, internet information services are divided into two categories: services of an operative nature and services of a non-operative nature. Our business conducted through our website involves operating internet information services, which requires us to obtain an ICP license. If an internet information service provider fails to obtain an ICP license, the relevant local branch of MII may levy fines, confiscate its income, or even block its website. Due to the PRC law restriction that foreign investors cannot hold more than a 50% equity interest in a value-added telecommunications services provider, we hold our ICP license through Arki Network. Arki Network currently holds an ICP license issued by Beijing Communications Administration, a local branch of MII.

The Internet Measures further specify that the internet information services regarding, among others, news, publication, education, medical and health care, and pharmacy and medical appliances are required to be examined, approved, and regulated by the relevant authorities. Internet content providers are prohibited from providing services beyond that included in the scope of their business license or other required licenses or permits. Furthermore, the Internet Measures clearly specify a list of prohibited content. Internet content providers must monitor and control the information posted on their websites. We are subject to this rule as a result of our operation of our online marketplace program.

Regulations Relating to Privacy Protection

As an internet content provider, we are subject to regulations relating to protection of privacy. Under the Internet Measures, internet content providers are prohibited from producing, copying, publishing or distributing information that is humiliating or defamatory to others or that infringes the lawful rights and interests of others. Internet content providers that violate the prohibition may face criminal charges or administrative sanctions by PRC security authorities. In addition, relevant authorities may suspend their services, revoke their licenses or temporarily suspend or close down their websites. Furthermore, under the Administration of Internet Bulletin Board Services issued by the MII in November 2000, internet content providers that provide electronic bulletin board services must keep users’ personal information confidential and are prohibited from disclosing such personal information to any third party without the consent of the users, unless otherwise required by law. The regulation further authorizes relevant telecommunication authorities to order internet content providers to rectify any unauthorized disclosure. Internet content providers could be subject to legal liabilities if unauthorized disclosure causes damages or losses to internet users. However, the PRC government retains the power and authority to order internet content providers to provide the personal information of internet users if the users post any prohibited content or engage in illegal activities through the internet. We believe that we are currently in compliance with these regulations in all material aspects.

Regulations Relating to Taxation

In January 2008, the PRC Enterprise Income Tax Law (The “EIT” Law) took effect. The EIT applies a uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate to both foreign-invested enterprises and domestic enterprises, unless where tax incentives are granted to special industries and projects. Under the EIT Law and its implementation regulations, dividends generated from the business of a PRC subsidiary after January 1, 2008 and payable to its foreign investor may be subject to a withholding tax rate of 10% if the PRC tax authorities determine that the foreign investor is a non-resident enterprise, unless there is a tax treaty with China that provides for a preferential withholding tax rate. Distributions of earnings generated before January 1, 2008 are exempt from PRC withholding tax.

Under the EIT Law, an enterprise established outside China with “de facto management bodies” within China is considered a “resident enterprise” for PRC enterprise income tax purposes and is generally subject to a uniform 25% enterprise income tax rate on its worldwide income. A circular issued by the State Administration of Taxation in April 2009 regarding the standards used to classify certain Chinese-invested enterprises controlled by Chinese enterprises or Chinese enterprise groups and established outside of China as “resident enterprises” clarified that dividends and other income paid by such PRC “resident enterprises” will be considered PRC-source income and subject to PRC withholding tax, currently at a rate of 10%, when paid to non-PRC enterprise shareholders. This circular also subjects such PRC “resident enterprises” to various reporting requirements with the PRC tax authorities. 

Under the implementation regulations to the EIT Law, a “de facto management body” is defined as a body that has material and overall management and control over the manufacturing and business operations, personnel and human resources, finances, and properties of an enterprise. In addition, the tax circular mentioned above specifies that certain PRC-invested overseas enterprises controlled by a Chinese enterprise or a Chinese enterprise group in the PRC will be classified as PRC resident enterprises if the following are located or residence in the PRC: senior management personnel and departments that are responsible for daily production, operation, and management; financial and personnel decision making bodies; key properties, accounting books, the company seal, and minutes of board meetings and shareholders’ meetings; and half or more of the senior management or directors having voting rights.

Regulations Relating to Foreign Exchange

Pursuant to the Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Exchange issued by the State Council and effective in 1996, as amended in January 1997 and August 2008, current account transactions, such as sale or purchase of goods, are not subject to PRC governmental control or restrictions. Certain organizations in the PRC, including foreign-invested enterprises, may purchase, sell, and/or remit foreign currencies at certain banks authorized to conduct foreign exchange business upon providing valid commercial documents. Approval of the PRC State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”), however, is required for capital account transactions.

In August 2008, SAFE issued a circular on the conversion of foreign currency into Renminbi by a foreign-invested company that regulates how the converted Renminbi may be used. The circular requires that the registered capital of a foreign-invested enterprise converted into Renminbi from foreign currencies may only be utilized for purposes within its business scope. For example, such converted amounts may not be used for investments in or acquisitions of other PRC companies, unless specifically provided otherwise, which can inhibit the ability of companies to consummate such transactions. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the Renminbi registered capital of foreign-invested enterprises converted from foreign currencies. The use of such Renminbi capital may not be changed without SAFE’s approval, and may not in any case be used to repay Renminbi loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been utilized. Violations may result in severe penalties, such as heavy fines.

As an offshore holding company with PRC subsidiaries, we may transfer funds to our PRC subsidiaries or finance our operating entity by means of loans or capital contributions. Any capital contributions or loans that we, as an offshore entity, make to our Company’s PRC subsidiaries, are subject to PRC regulations. Any loans to our PRC subsidiaries, which are foreign-invested enterprises, cannot exceed statutory limits based on the difference between the amount of our investments and registered capital in such subsidiaries, and shall be registered with SAFE, or its local counterparts. Furthermore, any capital increase contributions we make to our PRC subsidiaries, which are foreign-invested enterprises, shall be approved by China’s Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”), or its local counterparts. We may not be able to obtain these government registrations or approvals on a timely basis, if at all. If we fail to obtain such approvals or make such registration, our ability to make equity contributions or provide loans to our Company’s PRC subsidiaries or to fund their operations may be negatively affected, which may adversely affect their liquidity and ability to fund their working capital and expansion projects and meet their obligations and commitments. As a result, our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business may be negatively affected.

In order for us to make direct capital contributions to our PRC based businesses, the proceeds must be sent to China, and the process for sending such proceeds back to China may take as long as six months. We may make loans to our PRC subsidiaries, or we may make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiaries. Any loans to our PRC subsidiaries are subject to PRC regulations. For example, loans by us to our subsidiaries in China, which are foreign-invested enterprises, to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with SAFE.

Generally, we must take the following steps:

The timing of the process is difficult to estimate because the efficiencies of different SAFE branches can vary significantly. Ordinarily the process takes several months but is required by law to be accomplished within 180 days of application.

Regulations Relating to Labor

Pursuant to the PRC Labor Law effective in 1995 and the PRC Labor Contract Law effective in 2008, a written labor contract is required when an employment relationship is established between an employer and an employee. Other labor-related regulations and rules of the PRC stipulate the maximum number of working hours per day and per week as well as the minimum wages. An employer is required to set up occupational safety and sanitation systems, implement the national occupational safety and sanitation rules and standards, educate employees on occupational safety and sanitation, prevent accidents at work, and reduce occupational hazards.

In the PRC, workers dispatched by an employment agency are normally engaged in temporary, auxiliary, or substitute work. Pursuant to the PRC Labor Contract Law, an employment agency is the employer for workers dispatched by it and must perform an employer’s obligations toward them. The employment contract between the employment agency and the dispatched workers, and the placement agreement between the employment agency and the company that receives the dispatched workers must be in writing. Also, the company that accepts the dispatched workers must bear joint and several liabilities for any violation of the Labor Contract Law by the employment agencies arising from their contracts with dispatched workers. An employer is obligated to sign an indefinite term labor contract with an employee if the employer continues to employ the employee after two consecutive fixed-term labor contracts. The employer also has to pay compensation to the employee if the employer terminates an indefinite term labor contract. Except where the employer proposes to renew a labor contract by maintaining or raising the conditions of the labor contract and the employee is not agreeable to the renewal, an employer is required to compensate the employee when a definite term labor contract expires. Furthermore, under the Regulations on Paid Annual Leave for Employees issued by the State Council in December 2007 and effective as of January 2008, employees who have served an employer for more than one (1) year and less than ten years are entitled to a 5-day paid vacation, those whose service period ranges from 10 to 20 years are entitled to a 10-day paid vacation, and those who have served for more than 20 years are entitled to a 15-day paid vacation. An employee who does not use such vacation time at the request of the employer shall be compensated at three times their normal salaries for each waived vacation day.

Pursuant to the Regulations on Occupational Injury Insurance effective in 2004 and the Interim Measures concerning the Maternity Insurance for Enterprise Employees effective in 1995, PRC companies must pay occupational injury insurance premiums and maternity insurance premiums for their employees. Pursuant to the Interim Regulations on the Collection and Payment of Social Insurance Premiums effective in 1999 and the Interim Measures concerning the Administration of the Registration of Social Insurance effective in 1999, basic pension insurance, medical insurance, and unemployment insurance are collectively referred to as social insurance. Both PRC companies and their employees are required to contribute to the social insurance plans. Pursuant to the Regulations on the Administration of Housing Fund effective in 1999, as amended in 2002, PRC companies must register with applicable housing fund management centers and establish a special housing fund account in an entrusted bank. Both PRC companies and their employees are required to contribute to the housing funds. The PRC Subsidiaries and Arki Network are in process of applying for registration for social insurance and opening a housing fund account.

Regulations on Dividend Distribution

Wholly foreign-owned companies in the PRC may pay dividends only out of their accumulated profits after tax as determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards. Remittance of dividends by a wholly foreign-owned enterprise out of China is subject to examination by the banks designated by SAFE. Wholly foreign-owned companies may not pay dividends unless they set aside at least 10% of their respective accumulated profits after tax each year, if any, to fund certain reserve funds, until such time as the accumulative amount of such fund reaches 50% of the wholly foreign-owned company’s registered capital. In addition, these companies also may allocate a portion of their after-tax profits based on PRC accounting standards to staff welfare and bonus funds at their discretion. These reserve funds and staff welfare and bonus funds are not distributable as cash dividends.

SAFE Regulations on Offshore Special Purpose Companies Held by PRC Residents or Citizens

Pursuant to the Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration for PRC Residents to Engage in Financing and Inbound Investment via Overseas Special Purpose Vehicles, or Circular No. 75, issued in October 2005 by SAFE and its supplemental notices, PRC citizens or residents are required 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 equity financing involving a roundtrip investment whereby the offshore entity acquires or controls onshore assets or equity interests held by the PRC citizens or residents. In addition, such PRC citizens or residents must update their SAFE registrations when the offshore special purpose vehicle undergoes material events relating to increases or decreases in investment amount, transfers or exchanges of shares, mergers or divisions, long-term equity or debt investments, external guarantees, or other material events that do not involve roundtrip investments. Subsequent regulations further clarified that PRC subsidiaries of an offshore company governed by the SAFE regulations are required to coordinate and supervise the filing of SAFE registrations in a timely manner by the offshore holding company’s shareholders who are PRC citizens or residents. If these shareholders fail to comply, the PRC subsidiaries are required to report to the local SAFE branches. If the shareholders of the offshore holding company who are PRC citizens or residents do not complete their registration with the local SAFE branches, the PRC subsidiaries may be prohibited from distributing their profits and proceeds from any reduction in capital, share transfer or liquidation to the offshore company, and the offshore company may be restricted in its ability to contribute additional capital to its PRC subsidiaries. Moreover, failure to comply with the SAFE registration and amendment requirements described above could result in liability under PRC law for evasion of applicable foreign exchange restrictions.

We may also decide to finance our subsidiaries by means of capital contributions. These capital contributions must be approved by MOFCOM or its local counterpart. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain these government approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future capital contributions by us to our subsidiaries. If we fail to receive such approvals, our ability to utilize such amounts and to capitalize our Chinese operations may be negatively affected, which could adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

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 is primarily 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.

M&A Rules

On August 8, 2006, six PRC regulatory agencies, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission (“CSRC”), promulgated a rule entitled Provisions Regarding Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors (“the M&A Rules”) to regulate foreign investment in PRC domestic enterprises. The M&A rules, among other things, requires an overseas special purpose vehicle (“SPV”), formed for listing purposes through acquisitions of PRC domestic companies and controlled by PRC companies or individuals, to obtain the approval of CSRC prior to publicly listing their securities on an overseas stock exchange. We believe that while the CSRC generally has jurisdiction over overseas listings of SPVs like us, CSRC’s approval is not required for us given the fact that no provision in the M&A Rules classifies the respective contractual arrangements between Arki Network and Arki E-Commerce as a type of acquisition transaction falling under the M&A Rules. There remains some uncertainty as to how this regulation will be interpreted or implemented in the context of an overseas offering. If the CSRC or another PRC regulatory agency subsequently determines that we are required to obtain approval, we may face sanctions by the CSRC or another PRC regulatory agency.

The M&A Rules also establish procedures and requirements that could make some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors more time-consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that the Ministry of Commerce be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a Chinese domestic enterprise.

SAFE Regulations on Employee Share Options

On March 28, 2007, SAFE promulgated the Application Procedure of Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Employee Share Holding Plan or Share Option Plan of Overseas Listed Company, or the Share Option Rule. Pursuant to the Share Option Rule, Chinese citizens who are granted share options by an overseas publicly listed company are required to register with SAFE through a Chinese agent or Chinese subsidiary of the overseas publicly listed company and complete certain other procedures. Our PRC employees who have been granted share options will be subject to these regulations. Failure of our PRC share option holders to complete their SAFE registrations may subject these PRC employees to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiaries and limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute dividends to us.

Employees

As of December 31, 2018, we had 23 employees. The following table sets forth the number of our employees by function as of the same date:

Available Information

The Company files Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q files or furnishes Current Reports on Form 8-K, files or furnishes amendments to those reports, and files proxy and information statements with the SEC. These reports and statements may be read and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.

An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. As provided for under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, we wish to caution shareholders and investors that the following important factors, among others discussed throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, have affected, and in some cases, could affect actual results of operations and cause results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements made herein. Our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected due to any of the following risks. The risks described below are not the only ones we face as there are additional risks that we are not presently aware of or that we currently believe are immaterial, that may also impair business operations. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations could suffer. In that case, the trading price of our shares of common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. In assessing these risks, you should also refer to the other information contained or incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our financial statements and related notes.

We have a limited operating history in a new and evolving market, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects.

The market for China’s microfinancing service is relatively new and may not develop as expected. The regulatory framework for this market is also evolving and may remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. Potential borrowers and lenders may not be familiar with this market and may have difficulty distinguishing our services from those of our competitors. Convincing potential new borrowers and lenders of the value of our services is critical to increasing the volume of loan transactions facilitated by our company and to the success of our business.

We started engaging in the microfinancing business in 2016 and in the business of marketing investment opportunities in 2015. As a result, our current core business has a limited operating history. As our business develops or in response to competition, we may continue to introduce new products and services or make adjustments to our existing offerings and business model. In connection with the introduction of new products or in response to general economic conditions, we may impose more stringent borrower qualifications to ensure the quality of loans facilitated by our companies, which may negatively affect the growth of our business. Any significant change to our business model may not achieve expected results and may have a material and adverse impact on our financial conditions and results of operations. It is therefore difficult to effectively assess our future prospects. The risks and challenges we encounter or may encounter in this developing and rapidly evolving market may have impacts on our business and prospects. These risks and challenges include our ability to, among other things:

If we fail to educate potential borrowers and lenders about the value of our services, if the market for our services does not develop as we expect, or if we fail to address the needs of our target market, or other risks and challenges, our business and results of operations will be harmed.

If we are unable to maintain or increase the amount of transactions or if we are unable to retain existing borrowers or attract new borrowers, our business and results of operations will be adversely affected.

To maintain and increase the amount of transactions facilitated to borrowers, we must continue to increase the amount of transactions facilitated to existing borrowers and attract additional prospective borrowers, which may be affected by several factors, including our brand recognition and reputation, the financing service fees charged, installment plans offered, our efficiency in engaging prospective borrowers, the effectiveness of our risk management, our ability to secure sufficient and cost-efficient funding, borrower experience, the PRC regulatory environment governing our industry and the macroeconomic environment. In connection with the introduction of new products or in response to general economic conditions, we may also impose more stringent borrower qualifications to ensure the quality of the transactions we facilitate, which may negatively affect the growth of transactions facilitated to borrowers. Furthermore, we engage the majority of our active borrowers through UnionPay Liaoning. If such borrower engagement channels become less effective, if we are unable to continue to use such channels, or if the cost of borrower engagement from such channels become less efficient, and we are unable to attract borrowers through new channels, we may not be able to engage new borrowers in a cost-efficient manner or convert prospective borrowers into active borrowers, and may even lose existing borrowers to our competitors. If we are unable to attract quality borrowers or if borrowers do not continue to utilize our credit products, we might be unable to increase the amount of transactions facilitated to borrowers and our total revenues as expected, and our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

We rely on our risk management model in the determination of credit approval and credit limit assignment. If our risk management model fails to perform effectively, such failure may materially and adversely impact our operating results.

Credit limits for our borrowers are determined and approved based on risk assessment conducted by our internal team. We take into consideration potential borrower’s sales volume and transaction volume that go through UnionPay, is a credit/debit card processing company that is used by a majority of business in China. While we rely on UnionPay to provide information based on which we can assess the cash flow and liquidity of, there can be no assurance that the information UnionPay will provide a complete picture of the business. In addition, as we have a limited operating history, we may not have accumulated sufficient credit analysis and data to optimize our model and system. If we are unable to effectively and accurately assess the credit profiles of borrowers or price credit products appropriately, we may either be unable to offer attractive financing service fee and credit limits to borrowers, or be unable to maintain low delinquency rates of transactions facilitated by us, and our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

If we are unable to maintain low delinquency rates for transactions facilitated by us, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Further, historical delinquency rates may not be indicative of future results.

We may not be able to maintain low delinquency rates for our private loans, or such delinquency rates may be significantly affected by economic downturns or general economic conditions beyond our control and beyond the control of individual borrowers. We shifted our focus of target borrower base from small and medium sized enterprises to car dealerships since the beginning of 2017, and we may not be able to accurately assess the credit profiles of our current target borrower base. Increase in credit utilization by borrowers from existing levels, including increase in the use of our credit products from users that were approved for credit but have not previously drawn down on their credit, may also potentially have a material adverse effect as to the delinquency rates for our loans. If we were to experience a significant increase in delinquency rate, we may not be able to attract and obtain have sufficient capital resources to provide loans to borrowers, and if this were to occur, our results of operations, financial position and liquidity will be materially and adversely affected.

Our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to secure funding on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

We rely on investments of our limited partners at Arki Capital to fund our direct loans. The availability of acquiring limited partners depends on many factors, some of which are out of our control. There can be no assurance that we will be able to rely on their investment in the future. Our ability to acquire new limited partners or find other source of funding may be subject to regulatory or other limitations. In addition, regardless of our risk management efforts, our loans may nevertheless be considered riskier and may have a higher delinquency rate than loans made by borrowers with more established credit histories by traditional financial institutions. In the event there is a sudden or unexpected shortage of funds from our limited partners or if our limited partners have determined not to continue to invest in us, we may not be able to maintain necessary levels of funding without incurring high costs of capital, or at all.

If our loan products do not achieve sufficient market acceptance, our financial results and competitive position will be harmed.

We incur expenses and consume resources upfront to develop and market new loan products. Our existing or new loan products could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including but not limited to:

We cannot rule out the possibility that there may be a mismatch between the investor’s expected timing of exit and the maturity date of the loans to which the automated investing tool allocates the investor’s funds. Investors using our automated investing tool typically invest for a shorter period than the terms of the underlying loans. If we are unable to find another investor to take over the remainder of the loans from the original investor that uses our automated investing tool at the time of his expected exit, then the original investor will have to remain invested in the loans and his expectation of liquidity would not be satisfied. If such mismatches occur in a widespread manner, investor acceptance of or satisfaction with our automatic investing tool would be adversely impacted.

If our new loan products do not achieve adequate acceptance in the market, our competitive position, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.

If we do not compete effectively, our results of operations could be harmed.

The private lending industry in China is intensely competitive and evolving. We compete with many firms with lending capability. We also compete with financial products and companies that attract borrowers, lenders or both. With respect to borrowers, we primarily compete with traditional financial institutions, such as consumer finance business units in commercial banks, credit card issuers and other consumer finance companies. With respect to lenders, we primarily compete with other investment products and asset classes, such as equities, bonds, investment trust products, bank savings accounts, real estate and alternative asset classes.

Our competitors operate with different business models, have different cost structures or participate selectively in different market segments. They may ultimately prove more successful or more adaptable to new regulatory, technological and other developments. Some of our current and potential competitors have significantly more financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do and may be able to devote greater resources to the development, promotion, sale and support of their services. Our competitors may also have longer operating histories, more extensive borrower or lender bases, greater brand recognition and brand loyalty and broader partner relationships than us. Additionally, a current or potential competitor may acquire one or more of our existing competitors or form a strategic alliance with one or more of our competitors. Our competitors may be better at developing new products, offering more attractive investment returns or lower fees, responding faster to new technologies and undertaking more extensive and effective marketing campaigns. In response to competition and in order to grow or maintain the volume of loan transactions facilitated through our services, we may have to offer higher investment return to lenders or charge lower transaction fees, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. If we are unable to compete with such companies and meet the need for innovation in our industry, the demand for our services could stagnate or substantially decline, we could experience reduced revenues or our services could fail to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could harm our business and results of operations.

Our inability to collect loans could adversely affect our results of operations.

We reduce risk of default of our loan by only providing small loans to car dealerships recommended by UnionPay Liaoning, which introduces such potential borrowers based on the borrowers’ past sales volume using their credit card processing system. There are inherent risks associated with our lending activities, including credit risk, which is the risk that borrowers may not repay the outstanding loans balances in our direct loan business or that we may not recover the full amount of the payment we made to the lender in our guarantee business. While we hedge such default risk by keeping the loan amount at a relative low amount comparing to borrowers’ sale, the borrowers generally have fewer financial resources in terms of capital or borrowing capacity than larger entities and may have fewer financial resources to weather a downturn in the economy. Such borrowers may expose us to greater credit risks than lenders lending to larger, better-capitalized state-owned businesses with longer operating histories. Conditions such as inflation, economic downturn, local policy change, adjustment of industrial structure and other factors beyond our control may increase our credit risk more than such events would affect larger lenders. Such systematic adverse changes in the local economy may have a negative impact on the ability of borrowers to repay their loans and our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

If we fail to promote and maintain our brand in an effective and cost-efficient way, our business and results of operations may be harmed.

The continued development and success of our business relies on the recognition of our brands. We believe that developing and maintaining awareness of our brand effectively is critical to attracting new and retaining existing borrowers and lenders to our services. Successful promotion of our brand and our ability to attract qualified borrowers and sufficient lenders depend largely on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and the success of the channels we use to promote our services. Our efforts to build our brand have caused us to incur significant expenses, and it is likely that our future marketing efforts will require us to incur significant additional expenses. These efforts may not result in increased revenues in the immediate future or at all and, even if they do, any increases in revenues may not offset the expenses incurred. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand while incurring substantial expenses, our results of operations and financial condition would be adversely affected, which may impair our ability to grow our business.

Our result of operations may be negatively affected if information supplied by borrowers is inaccurate, misleading or incomplete, including if the borrowers use the loan proceeds for purposes other than as originally provided.

Borrowers supply a variety of information that is included in the loan listings on our services. We do not verify all the information we receive from borrowers, and such information may be inaccurate or incomplete. For example, we often do not verify the intended use of loan proceeds, and the borrower may use loan proceeds for other purposes with increased risk than as originally provided. Moreover, lenders do not, and will not, have access to detailed financial information about borrowers. If we issue loans based on information supplied by borrowers that is inaccurate, misleading or incomplete, we may not receive their expected returns and our result of operations will be negatively affected.

Misconduct, errors and failure to function by our employees and third-party service providers could harm our business and reputation.

We are exposed to many types of operational risks, including the risk of misconduct and errors by our employees and third-party service providers. Our business depends on our employees and third-party service providers to interact with potential borrowers and lenders, process large numbers of transactions and support the loan collection process, all of which involve the use and disclosure of personal information. We could be materially adversely affected if transactions were redirected, misappropriated or otherwise improperly executed, if personal information was disclosed to unintended recipients or if an operational breakdown or failure in the processing of transactions occurred, whether as a result of human error, purposeful sabotage or fraudulent manipulation of our operations or systems. In addition, the manner in which we store and use certain personal information and interact with borrowers and lenders through our services is governed by various PRC laws. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct or errors by employees or third-party service providers, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses. If any of our employees or third-party service providers take, convert or misuse funds, documents or data or fail to follow protocol when interacting with borrowers and lenders, we could be liable for damages and subject to regulatory actions and penalties.

Furthermore, as we rely on certain third-party service providers, such as third-party payment services and custody and settlement service providers, to conduct our business, if these third-party service providers failed to function properly, we cannot assure you that we would be able to find an alternative in a timely and cost-efficient manner or at all. Any of these occurrences could result in our diminished ability to operate our business, potential liability to borrowers and lenders, inability to attract borrowers and lenders, reputational damage, regulatory intervention and financial harm, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

A severe or prolonged downturn in the Chinese or global economy could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Any prolonged slowdown in the Chinese or global economy may have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In particular, general economic factors and conditions in China or worldwide, including the general interest rate environment and unemployment rates, may affect borrower willingness to seek loans and lenders’ ability and desire to invest in loans. Economic conditions in China are sensitive to global economic conditions. The global financial markets have experienced significant disruptions since 2008 and the United States, Europe and other economies have experienced periods of recession. The recovery from the lows of 2008 and 2009 has been uneven and there are new challenges, including the escalation of the European sovereign debt crisis from 2011 and the slowdown of China’s economic growth since 2012 which may continue. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies, including the United States and China. There have also been concerns over unrest in Ukraine, the Middle East and Africa, which have resulted in volatility in financial and other markets. There have also been concerns about the economic effect of the tensions in the relationship between China and surrounding Asian countries. If present Chinese and global economic uncertainties persist, many of our lenders may delay or reduce their investment in the loans facilitated through our service. Adverse economic conditions could also reduce the number of qualified borrowers seeking loans on our service, as well as their ability to make payments. Should any of these situations occur, the amount of loans facilitated through our service and our net revenues will decline, and our business and financial conditions will be negatively impacted. Additionally, continued turbulence in the international markets may adversely affect our ability to access the capital markets to meet liquidity needs.

Adverse results in material litigation matters could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business.

The Company may become subject, in the ordinary course of business, to material legal action related to, among other things, intellectual property disputes, claims with customers and vendors and employee-related matters. You should carefully review and consider the various disclosures we make in our reports filed with the SEC regarding legal matters that may affect the business, included in this Annual Report. The Company may also receive inquiries and requests for information from governmental agencies and bodies. Claims asserted against us may result in decreased demand for our products, injury to our reputation, related litigation costs, and substantial monetary awards to plaintiffs. The expense of defending such litigation may be substantial and the time required to defend the actions could divert management’s attention from the day-to-day operations of the business, which could adversely affect the business, results of operations and cash flows. We cannot predict with certainty the outcome of any legal proceedings in which we become involved, and it is difficult to estimate the possible costs to us stemming from any such matters. We may be faced with litigation claims that exceed our insurance coverage or are not covered under any of our insurance policies. Further, our inability to obtain adequate liability insurance at an acceptable cost or to otherwise protect against potential claims could inhibit the commercialization of any products that we develop. An unfavorable outcome in such litigation could result in substantial monetary damages as well as damage to the Company’s reputation, which could have a material adverse effect on the business, results of operations, financial position and cash flows.

Our ability to protect the confidential information of our borrowers and lenders may be adversely affected by cyber-attacks, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins or similar disruptions.

Our service collects, stores and processes certain personal and other sensitive data from our borrowers and lenders, which makes it an attractive target and potentially vulnerable to cyber-attacks, computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins or similar disruptions. While we have taken steps to protect the confidential information that we have access to, our security measures could be breached. Because techniques used to sabotage or obtain unauthorized access to systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any accidental or willful security breaches or other unauthorized access to our service could cause confidential borrower and investor information to be stolen and used for criminal purposes. Security breaches or unauthorized access to confidential information could also expose us to liability related to the loss of the information, time-consuming and expensive litigation and negative publicity. If security measures are breached because of third-party action, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, or if design flaws in our technology infrastructure are exposed and exploited, our relationships with borrowers and lenders could be severely damaged, we could incur significant liability and our business and operations could be adversely affected.

Failure in our information technology systems or cybersecurity breaches could significantly disrupt our operations.

The Company’s success depends on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of its information technology systems. Information technology systems are potentially vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses and similar disruptions. A failure of the network or data gathering procedures could impede the processing of data, disrupt our ability to process transactions, bill the appropriate party, encumber the day-to-day management of the business and could result in the corruption or loss of data. Failure of our information technology systems could adversely affect our business, profitability and financial condition. Despite any precautions the Company may take, damage from fire, floods, hurricanes, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, break-ins, cybersecurity breaches and similar events could result in interruptions in the flow of data to the servers and from the servers to clients. In addition, any failure by the computer environment to provide required data communications capacity could result in interruptions in service. In the event of a delay in the delivery of data, the Company could be required to transfer data collection operations to an alternative provider of server hosting services. Such a transfer could result in delays in the ability to deliver products and services to clients. Finally, long-term disruptions in the infrastructure caused by events such as natural disasters, the outbreak of war, the escalation of hostilities, acts of terrorism (particularly involving cities in which the Company has offices) and cybersecurity breaches could adversely affect the business.

Security breaches and unauthorized access to the Company or its customers’ data could harm the Company’s reputation and adversely affect its business.

Experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate the Company’s security controls and misappropriate or compromise personal information or proprietary or confidential information, create system disruptions or cause shutdowns. They also may be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms and other malicious software programs that attack the Company’s systems or otherwise exploit any security vulnerabilities. Outside parties may also attempt to fraudulently induce employees to take actions, including the release of confidential or sensitive information or to make fraudulent payments, through illegal electronic spamming, phishing or other tactics. Although the Company believes that it has robust information security procedures and other safeguards in place, which are monitored and routinely tested, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, the Company may be unable to anticipate all of these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. In addition, as cyber threats continue to evolve, the Company may be required to expend additional resources to continue to enhance the Company’s information security measures or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities. The Company’s remediation efforts may not be successful and could result in interruptions, delays or cessation of service. Breaches of the Company’s security measures and the unauthorized dissemination of personal information, proprietary or confidential information about the Company or its customers or other third parties could expose customers’ private information and could expose customers to the risk of financial or medical identity theft or expose the Company or other third parties to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation and potential liability for the Company, damage the Company’s brand and reputation or otherwise harm the Company’s business. Any of these disruptions or breaches of security could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, regulatory compliance, financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

If we fail to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding internal control over financial reporting or to remedy any material weaknesses in our internal controls that we may identify, such failure could result in material misstatements in our financial statements, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information and have a negative effect on the trading price of our common shares.

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and current SEC regulations, we are required to prepare assessments regarding internal controls over financial reporting. In connection with our on-going assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we may discover “material weaknesses” in our internal controls as defined in standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB. A material weakness is a significant deficiency, or combination of significant deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected. The PCAOB defines “significant deficiency” as a deficiency that results in more than a remote likelihood that a misstatement of the financial statements that is more than inconsequential will not be prevented or detected. We determined that our disclosure controls and procedures over financial reporting are not effective and were not effective since December 31, 2015. For a detailed description of these material weaknesses, see Item 9A, “Controls and Procedures.”

One material weakness that has been identified related to our lack of sufficient financial reporting and accounting personnel with appropriate knowledge of U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting requirements to properly address complex U.S. GAAP accounting issues and to prepare and review our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures to fulfill U.S. GAAP and SEC financial reporting requirements. The other material weakness that has been identified related to our lack of comprehensive accounting policies and procedures manual in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

We have implemented a number of measures in an effort to address the material weaknesses that have been identified in connection with the audits of our consolidated financial statements. However, there is no assurance that we will not have any material weakness in the future. Failure to discover and address any control deficiencies could result in inaccuracies in our financial statements and impair our ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and related regulatory filings on a timely basis. Moreover, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could significantly hinder our ability to prevent fraud and expose us to an increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets. We may also be required to restate our financial statements from prior periods.

If we are unsuccessful in implementing or following the remediation plan or fail to update the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as the business evolves or to integrate acquired businesses into the Company’s controls system, we may not be able to timely or accurately report the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows or to maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures. If we are unable to report financial information in a timely and accurate manner or to maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures, we could be subject to, among other things: (i) regulatory or enforcement actions by the SEC, (ii) an inability for us to be accepted for listing on any national securities exchange in the near future, (iii) securities litigation, or (iv) a general loss of investor confidence, any one of which could adversely affect the Company’s business prospects and the market value of our common stock. We could face additional litigation exposure and a greater likelihood of an SEC enforcement or other regulatory action if further restatements were to occur or other accounting-related problems emerge, which may adversely affect the Company’s financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The process of designing and implementing effective internal controls is a continuous effort that requires us to anticipate and react to changes in our business and the economic and regulatory environments and to expend significant resources to maintain a system of internal controls that is adequate to satisfy our reporting obligations as a public company. We cannot assure you that we will implement and maintain adequate controls over our financial process and reporting in the future or that the measures we will take will remediate any material weaknesses that we may identify in the future.

Our operations depend on the performance of the internet infrastructure and fixed telecommunications networks in China.

Almost all access to the internet in China is maintained through state-owned telecommunication operators under the administrative control and regulatory supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the MIIT. We primarily rely on a limited number of telecommunication service providers to provide us with data communications capacity through local telecommunications lines and internet data centers to host our servers. We have limited access to alternative networks or services in the event of disruptions, failures or other problems with China’s internet infrastructure or the fixed telecommunications networks provided by telecommunication service providers. With the expansion of our business, we may be required to upgrade our technology and infrastructure to keep up with the increasing traffic on our service. We cannot assure you that the internet infrastructure and the fixed telecommunications networks in China will be able to support the demands associated with the continued growth in internet usage.

In addition, we have no control over the costs of the services provided by telecommunication service providers. If the prices we pay for telecommunications and internet services rise significantly, our results of operations may be adversely affected. Furthermore, if internet access fees or other charges to internet users increase, our user traffic may decline and our business may be harmed.

Our service and internal systems rely on software that is highly technical, and if it contains undetected errors, our business could be adversely affected.

Our service and internal systems rely on software that is highly technical and complex. In addition, our service and internal systems depend on the ability of such software to store, retrieve, process and manage immense amounts of data. The software on which we rely has contained, and may now or in the future contain, undetected errors or bugs. Some errors may only be discovered after the code has been released for external or internal use. Errors or other design defects within the software on which we rely may result in a negative experience for borrowers and lenders using our service, delay introductions of new features or enhancements, result in errors or compromise our ability to protect borrower or investor data or our intellectual property. Any errors, bugs or defects discovered in the software on which we rely could result in harm to our reputation, loss of borrowers or lenders or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial conditions.

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, which may be expensive to defend and may disrupt our business and operations.

We cannot be certain that our operations or any aspects of our business do not or will not infringe upon or otherwise violate trademarks, patents, copyrights, know-how or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We may be from time to time in the future subject to legal proceedings and claims relating to the intellectual property rights of others. In addition, there may be third-party trademarks, patents, copyrights, know-how or other intellectual property rights that are infringed by our products, services or other aspects of our business without our awareness. Holders of such intellectual property rights may seek to enforce such intellectual property rights against us in China, the United States or other jurisdictions. If any third-party infringement claims are brought against us, we may be forced to divert management’s time and other resources from our business and operations to defend against these claims, regardless of their merits.

Additionally, the application and interpretation of China’s intellectual property right laws and the procedures and standards for granting trademarks, patents, copyrights, know-how or other intellectual property rights in China are still evolving and are uncertain, and we cannot assure you that PRC courts or regulatory authorities would agree with our analysis. If we were found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be subject to liability for our infringement activities or may be prohibited from using such intellectual property, and we may incur licensing fees or be forced to develop alternatives of our own. As a result, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

Our business depends on the continued efforts of our senior management. If one or more of our key executives were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, our business may be severely disrupted.

Our business operations depend on the continued services of our senior management, particularly the executive officers named in this report. While we have provided different incentives to our management, we cannot assure you that we can continue to retain their services. We currently do not carry a “key man” life insurance on the officers. Therefore, if one or more of our key executives were unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may incur substantial cost or may not be able to replace them at all. Consequently, our future growth may be constrained, our business may be severely disrupted and our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. If that’s the case, we may incur additional expenses to recruit, train and retain qualified personnel. In addition, although we have entered into confidentiality and non-competition agreements with our management, there is no assurance that any member of our management team will not join our competitors or form a competing business. If any dispute arises between our current or former officers and us, we may have to incur substantial costs and expenses in order to enforce such agreements in China or we may be unable to enforce them at all.

Competition for employees is intense, and we may not be able to attract and retain the qualified and skilled employees needed to support our business.

We believe our success depends on the efforts and talent of our employees, including risk management, software engineering, financial and marketing personnel. Our future success depends on our continued ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain qualified and skilled employees. Competition for highly skilled technical, risk management and financial personnel is extremely intense. We may not be able to hire and retain these personnel at compensation levels consistent with our existing compensation and salary structure. Some of the companies with which we compete for experienced employees have greater resources than we have and may be able to offer more attractive terms of employment.

In addition, we invest significant time and expenses in training our employees, which increases their value to competitors who may seek to recruit them. If we fail to retain our employees, we could incur significant expenses in hiring and training their replacements, and the quality of our services and our ability to serve borrowers and lenders could diminish, resulting in a material adverse effect to our business.

Increases in labor costs in the PRC may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

The economy in China has experienced increases in inflation and labor costs in recent years. As a result, average wages in the PRC are expected to continue to increase. In addition, we are required by PRC laws and regulations to pay various statutory employee benefits, including pension, housing fund, medical insurance, work-related injury insurance, unemployment insurance and maternity insurance to designated government agencies for the benefit of our employees. The relevant government agencies may examine whether an employer has made adequate payments to the statutory employee benefits, and those employers who fail to make adequate payments may be subject to late payment fees, fines and/or other penalties. We expect that our labor costs, including wages and employee benefits, will continue to increase. Unless we are able to control our labor costs or pass on these increased labor costs to our users by increasing the fees of our services, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.

We do not have any business insurance coverage.

Insurance companies in China currently do not offer as extensive an array of insurance products as insurance companies in more developed economies. Currently, we do not have any business liability or disruption insurance to cover our operations. We have determined that the costs of insuring for these risks and the difficulties associated with acquiring such insurance on commercially reasonable terms make it impractical for us to have such insurance. Any uninsured business disruptions may result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We face risks related to natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.

We are vulnerable to natural disasters and other calamities. Fire, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, break-ins, war, riots, terrorist attacks or similar events may give rise to server interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology service failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware as well as adversely affect our ability to provide products and services on our service.

Our business could also be adversely affected by the effects of Zika virus, Ebola virus disease, H1N1 flu, H7N9 flu, avian flu, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, or other epidemics. Our business operations could be disrupted if any of our employees is suspected of having Zika virus, Ebola virus disease, H1N1 flu, H7N9 flu, avian flu, SARS or other epidemic, since it could require our employees to be quarantined and/or our offices to be disinfected. In addition, our results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent that any of these epidemics harms the Chinese economy in general.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure

If the PRC government deems that the contractual arrangements in relation to Arki Network, our consolidated variable interest entity, do not comply with PRC regulatory restrictions on foreign investment in the relevant industries, or if these regulations or the interpretation of existing regulations change in the future, we could be subject to severe penalties or be forced to relinquish our interests in those operations.

Foreign ownership of internet-based businesses, such as distribution of online information, is subject to restrictions under current PRC laws and regulations. For example, foreign investors are not allowed to own more than 50% of the equity interests in a value-added telecommunication service provider (except e-commerce) and any such foreign investor must have experience in providing value-added telecommunications services overseas and maintain a good track record in accordance with the Guidance Catalog of Industries for Foreign Investment promulgated in 2007, as amended in 2011 and in 2015, respectively, and other applicable laws and regulations.

It is uncertain whether any new PRC laws, rules or regulations relating to variable interest entity structures will be adopted or if adopted, what they would provide. In particular, in January 2015, the Ministry of Commerce, or MOC, published a discussion draft of the proposed Foreign Investment Law for public review and comments. Among other things, the draft Foreign Investment Law expands the definition of foreign investment and introduces the principle of “actual control” in determining whether a company is considered a foreign-invested enterprise, or an FIE. Under the draft Foreign Investment Law, variable interest entities would also be deemed as FIEs, if they are ultimately “controlled” by foreign investors, and be subject to restrictions on foreign investments. However, the draft law has not taken a position on what actions will be taken with respect to the existing companies with the “variable interest entity” structure, whether or not these companies are controlled by Chinese parties. It is uncertain when the draft would be signed into law and whether the final version would have any substantial changes from the draft. Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation of draft PRC Foreign Investment Law and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations” below. If the ownership structure, contractual arrangements and business of our company, Arki Network are found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, or we fail to obtain or maintain any of the required permits or approvals, the relevant governmental authorities would have broad discretion in dealing with such violation, including levying fines, confiscating our income or the income of Arki Network, revoking the business licenses or operating licenses of Arki Network, shutting down our servers or blocking our online service, discontinuing or placing restrictions or onerous conditions on our operations, requiring us to undergo a costly and disruptive restructuring, restricting or prohibiting our use of proceeds from public offerings to finance our business and operations in China, and taking other regulatory or enforcement actions that could be harmful to our business. Any of these actions could cause significant disruption to our business operations and severely damage our reputation, which would in turn materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If any of these occurrences results in our inability to direct the activities of Arki Network, and/or our failure to receive economic benefits from Arki Network, we may not be able to consolidate its results into our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Any failure by Arki Network, our consolidated variable interest entity, or its shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them would have a material adverse effect on our business.

If Arki Network, our consolidated variable interest entity, or its shareholders fail to perform their respective obligations under the contractual arrangements, we may have to incur substantial costs and expend additional resources to enforce such arrangements. We may also have to rely on legal remedies under PRC laws, including seeking specific performance or injunctive relief, and claiming damages, which we cannot assure you will be effective under PRC laws. For example, if the shareholders of Arki Network were to refuse to transfer their equity interest in Arki Network to us or our designee if we exercise the purchase option pursuant to these contractual arrangements, or if they were otherwise to act in bad faith toward us, then we may have to take legal actions to compel them to perform their contractual obligations.

All the agreements under our contractual arrangements are governed by PRC laws and provide for the resolution of disputes through arbitration in China. Accordingly, these contracts would be interpreted in accordance with PRC laws and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. The legal system in the PRC is not as developed as in some other jurisdictions, such as the United States. As a result, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. Meanwhile, there are very few precedents and little formal guidance as to how contractual arrangements in the context of a consolidated variable interest entity should be interpreted or enforced under PRC laws. There remain significant uncertainties regarding the ultimate outcome of such arbitration should legal action become necessary. In addition, under PRC laws, rulings by arbitrators are final and parties cannot appeal arbitration results in court unless such rulings are revoked or determined unenforceable by a competent court. If the losing parties fail to carry out the arbitration awards within a prescribed time limit, the prevailing parties may only enforce the arbitration awards in PRC courts through arbitration award recognition proceedings, which would require additional expenses and delay. In the event that we are unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, or if we suffer significant delay or other obstacles in the process of enforcing these contractual arrangements, we may not be able to exert effective control over our consolidated variable interest entity, and our ability to conduct our business may be negatively affected. See “— Risks Related to Doing Business in China — Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of Chinese laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to us.”

The shareholders of Arki Network, our consolidated variable interest entity, may have potential conflicts of interest with us, which may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition.

The equity interests of Arki Network, our consolidated variable interest entity, are held by Mr. Jianmin Gao, our President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, and Fei Gao, COO and Director. Their interests in Arki Network may differ from the interests of our company as a whole. These shareholders may breach, or cause Arki Network to breach, the existing contractual arrangements we have with them and Arki Network, which would have a material adverse effect on our ability to effectively control Arki Network and receive economic benefits from it. For example, the shareholders may be able to cause our agreements with Arki Network to be performed in a manner adverse to us by, among other things, failing to remit payments due under the contractual arrangements to us on a timely basis. We cannot assure you that when conflicts of interest arise, any or all of these shareholders will act in the best interests of our company or such conflicts will be resolved in our favor.

Currently, we do not have any arrangements to address potential conflicts of interest between these shareholders and our company, except that we could exercise our purchase option under the exclusive option agreement with these shareholders to request them to transfer all of their equity interests in Arki Network to a PRC entity or individual designated by us, to the extent permitted by PRC laws. If we cannot resolve any conflict of interest or dispute between us and the shareholders of Arki Network, we would have to rely on legal proceedings, which could result in the disruption of our business and subject us to substantial uncertainty as to the outcome of any such legal proceedings.

We may lose the ability to use and benefit from assets held by Arki Network, our consolidated variable interest entity, that are material to the operation of our business if the entity goes bankrupt or becomes subject to a dissolution or liquidation proceeding.

Arki Network, our consolidated variable interest entity, holds certain assets that are material to the operation of our business, including domain names and an ICP license. Under the contractual arrangements, our consolidated variable interest entity may not and its shareholders may not cause it to, in any manner, sell, transfer, mortgage or dispose of its assets or its legal or beneficial interests in the business without our prior consent. However, in the event Arki Network’s shareholders breach the these contractual arrangements and voluntarily liquidate Arki Network, or Arki Network declares bankruptcy and all or part of its assets become subject to liens or rights of third-party creditors, or are otherwise disposed of without our consent, we may be unable to continue some or all of our business activities, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If Arki Network undergoes a voluntary or involuntary liquidation proceeding, independent third-party creditors may claim rights to some or all of these assets, thereby hindering our ability to operate our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Doing Business in China

Changes in China’s economic, political or social conditions or government policies could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Substantially all of our operations are located in China. Accordingly, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be influenced to a significant degree by political, economic and social conditions in China generally and by continued economic growth in China as a whole.

The Chinese 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. Although the Chinese government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of improved corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of productive assets in China is still owned by the government. In addition, the Chinese government continues to play a significant role in regulating industry development by imposing industrial policies. The Chinese government also exercises significant control over China’s economic growth through allocating resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy, and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.

While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The Chinese government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations. In addition, in the past the Chinese government has implemented certain measures, including interest rate increases, to control the pace of economic growth. These measures may cause decreased economic activity in China, and since 2012, China’s economic growth has slowed down. Any prolonged slowdown in the Chinese economy may reduce the demand for our products and services and materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Uncertainties in the interpretation and enforcement of Chinese laws and regulations could limit the legal protections available to us.

The PRC legal system is based on written statutes and prior court decisions have limited value as precedents. Since these laws and regulations are relatively new and the PRC legal system continues to rapidly evolve, the interpretations of many laws, regulations and rules are not always uniform and enforcement of these laws, regulations and rules involves uncertainties.

Although we have taken measures to comply with the laws and regulations that are applicable to our business operations, including the regulatory principles raised by the CBRC, and avoid conducting any activities that may be deemed as illegal fund-raising, forming capital pool or providing guarantee to investors under the current applicable laws and regulations, the PRC government authority may promulgate new laws and regulations regulating the direct lending service industry in the future. We cannot assure you that our practices would not be deemed to violate any PRC laws or regulations relating to illegal fund-raising, forming capital pools or the provision of credit enhancement services. Moreover, we cannot rule out the possibility that the PRC government will institute a license requirement covering our industry at some point in the future. If such a licensing regime were introduced, we cannot assure you that we would be able to obtain any newly required license in a timely manner, or at all, which could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

From time to time, we may have to resort to administrative and court proceedings to enforce our legal rights. However, since PRC administrative and court authorities have significant discretion in interpreting and implementing statutory and contractual terms, it may be more difficult to evaluate the outcome of administrative and court proceedings and the level of legal protection we enjoy than in more developed legal systems. Furthermore, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules (some of which are not published in a timely manner or at all) that may have retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until sometime after the violation. Such uncertainties, including uncertainty over the scope and effect of our contractual, property (including intellectual property) and procedural rights, could materially and adversely affect our business and impede our ability to continue our operations.

Substantial uncertainties exist with respect to the enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation of draft PRC Foreign Investment Law and how it may impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations.

The MOC published a discussion draft of the proposed Foreign Investment Law in January 2015 aiming to, upon its enactment, replace the trio of existing laws regulating foreign investment in China, namely, the Sino-foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-invested Enterprise Law, together with their implementation rules and ancillary regulations. The draft Foreign Investment Law embodies an expected PRC regulatory trend to rationalize its foreign investment regulatory regime in line with prevailing international practice and the legislative efforts to unify the corporate legal requirements for both foreign and domestic investments. The MOC is currently soliciting comments on this draft and substantial uncertainties exist with respect to its enactment timetable, interpretation and implementation. The draft Foreign Investment Law, if enacted as proposed, may materially impact the viability of our current corporate structure, corporate governance and business operations in many aspects.

Among other things, the draft Foreign Investment Law expands the definition of foreign investment and introduces the principle of “actual control” in determining whether a company is considered a foreign-invested enterprise, or an FIE. The draft Foreign Investment Law specifically provides that entities established in China but “controlled” by foreign investors will be treated as FIEs. Once an entity is considered to be an FIE, it may be subject to the foreign investment restrictions or prohibitions set forth in a “negative list” to be separately issued by the State Council later. If an FIE proposes to conduct business in an industry subject to foreign investment “restrictions” in the “negative list,” the FIE must go through a market entry clearance by the MOC before being established. If an FIE proposes to conduct business in an industry subject to foreign investment “prohibitions” in the “negative list,” it must not engage in the business. However, an FIE that is subject to foreign investment “restrictions,” upon market entry clearance, may apply in writing for being treated as a PRC domestic investment if it is ultimately “controlled” by PRC government authorities and its affiliates and/or PRC citizens. In this connection, “control” is broadly defined in the draft law to cover the following summarized categories: (i) holding 50% or more of the voting rights of the subject entity; (ii) holding less than 50% of the voting rights of the subject entity but having the power to secure at least 50% of the seats on the board or other equivalent decision making bodies, or having the voting power to exert material influence on the board, the shareholders’ meeting or other equivalent decision making bodies; or (iii) having the power to exert decisive influence, via contractual or trust arrangements, over the subject entity’s operations, financial matters or other key aspects of business operations. Once an entity is determined to be an FIE, it will be subject to the foreign investment restrictions or prohibitions set forth in a “negative list,” to be separately issued by the State Council at a later date, if the FIE is engaged in an industry listed in the negative list. Unless the underlying business of the FIE falls within the negative list, which calls for market entry clearance by the MOC, prior approval from the government authorities as mandated by the existing foreign investment legal regime would no longer be required for establishment of the FIE.

The “variable interest entity” structure, or VIE structure, has been adopted by many PRC-based companies, including us, to obtain necessary licenses and permits in the industries that are currently subject to foreign investment restrictions in China. Under the draft Foreign Investment Law, variable interest entities that are controlled via contractual arrangement would also be deemed as FIEs, if they are ultimately “controlled” by foreign investors. Therefore, for any companies with a VIE structure in an industry category that is included in the “negative list” as restricted industry, the VIE structure may be deemed legitimate only if the ultimate controlling person(s) is/are of PRC nationality (either PRC companies or PRC citizens). Conversely, if the actual controlling person(s) is/are of foreign nationalities, then the variable interest entities will be treated as FIEs and any operation in the industry category on the “negative list” without market entry clearance may be considered as illegal.

If the enacted version of the Foreign Investment Law and the final “negative list” mandate further actions, such as MOC market entry clearance or certain restructuring of our corporate structure and operations, to be completed by companies with existing VIE structure like us, there may be substantial uncertainties as to whether we can complete these actions in a timely manner, or at all, and our business and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

The draft Foreign Investment Law, if enacted as proposed, may also materially impact our corporate governance practice and increase our compliance costs. For instance, the draft Foreign Investment Law imposes stringent ad hoc and periodic information reporting requirements on foreign investors and the applicable FIEs. Aside from an investment implementation report and an investment amendment report that are required for each investment and alteration of investment specifics, an annual report is mandatory, and large foreign investors meeting certain criteria are required to report on a quarterly basis. Any company found to be non-compliant with these information reporting obligations may potentially be subject to fines and/or administrative or criminal liabilities, and the persons directly responsible may be subject to criminal liabilities.

We may be adversely affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in PRC regulation of internet-related businesses and companies, and any lack of requisite approvals, licenses or permits applicable to our business may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

The PRC government extensively regulates the internet industry, including foreign ownership of, and the licensing and permit requirements pertaining to, companies in the internet industry. These internet-related laws and regulations are relatively new and evolving, and their interpretation and enforcement involve significant uncertainties. As a result, in certain circumstances it may be difficult to determine what actions or omissions may be deemed to be in violation of applicable laws and regulations.

Except for our corporate website (www.ccgusa.com), we only have contractual control over our websites, as the domains are held by Arki Network or its subsidiaries. We do not directly own the website due to the restriction of foreign investment in businesses providing value-added telecommunication services in China, including internet information provision services. This may significantly disrupt our business, subject us to sanctions, compromise enforceability of related contractual arrangements, or have other harmful effects on us.

The evolving PRC regulatory system for the internet industry may lead to the establishment of new regulatory agencies. For example, in May 2011, the State Council announced the establishment of a new department, the State Internet Information Office (with the involvement of the State Council Information Office, the MITT, and the Ministry of Public Security). The primary role of this new agency is to facilitate the policy-making and legislative development in this field, to direct and coordinate with the relevant departments in connection with online content administration and to deal with cross-ministry regulatory matters in relation to the internet industry.

Our online services, operated by our consolidated variable interest entity, Arki Network, may be deemed to be providing commercial internet information services, which would require Arki Network to obtain an ICP License. An ICP License is a value-added telecommunications business operating license required for provision of commercial internet information services. Arki Network, our PRC consolidated variable interest entity has obtained an ICP license as an internet information provider. Furthermore, as we are providing mobile applications to mobile device users, it is uncertain if Arki Network will be required to obtain a separate operating license in addition to the ICP License. Although we believe that not obtaining such separate license is in line with the current market practice, there can be no assurance that we will not be required to apply for an operating license for our mobile applications in the future.

The Circular on Strengthening the Administration of Foreign Investment in and Operation of Value-added Telecommunications Business, issued by the MITT in July 2006, prohibits domestic telecommunication service providers from leasing, transferring or selling telecommunications business operating licenses to any foreign investor in any form, or providing any resources, sites or facilities to any foreign investor for their illegal operation of a telecommunications business in China. According to this circular, either the holder of a value-added telecommunication services operation permit or its shareholders must directly own the domain names and trademarks used by such license holders in their provision of value-added telecommunication services. The circular also requires each license holder to have the necessary facilities, including servers, for its approved business operations and to maintain such facilities in the regions covered by its license. Arki Network owns the relevant domain names in connection with our value-added telecommunications business and has the necessary personnel to operate our website. If an ICP License holder fails to comply with the requirements and also fails to remedy such non-compliance within a specified period of time, the MITT or its local counterparts have the discretion to take administrative measures against such license holder, including revoking its ICP License.

The interpretation and application of existing PRC laws, regulations and policies and possible new laws, regulations or policies relating to the internet industry have created substantial uncertainties regarding the legality of existing and future foreign investments in, and the businesses and activities of, internet businesses in China, including our business. We cannot assure you that we have obtained all the permits or licenses required for conducting our business in China or will be able to maintain our existing licenses or obtain new ones. If the PRC government considers that we were operating without the proper approvals, licenses or permits or promulgates new laws and regulations that require additional approvals or licenses or imposes additional restrictions on the operation of any part of our business, it has the power, among other things, to levy fines, confiscate our income, revoke our business licenses, and require us to discontinue our relevant business or impose restrictions on the affected portion of our business. Any of these actions by the PRC government may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

PRC regulation of loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies and governmental control of currency conversion may delay or prevent us from using capital from financings to make loans to or make additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

Under PRC laws and regulations, our ability to utilize the proceeds from any financing transactions that we may undertake to fund our PRC subsidiary, such as by making loans to or additional capital contributions to our PRC subsidiary, is subject to applicable government registration and approval requirements. Any loans to our PRC subsidiary, which are treated as foreign-invested enterprises under PRC laws, are subject to PRC regulations and foreign exchange loan registrations. For example, loans by us to our PRC subsidiary to finance their activities cannot exceed statutory limits and must be registered with the local counterpart of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE. The statutory limit for the total amount of foreign debts of a foreign-invested company is the difference between the amount of total investment as approved by the MOC or its local counterpart and the amount of registered capital of such foreign-invested company.

We may also decide to finance our PRC subsidiary by means of capital contributions. These capital contributions must be approved by the MOC or its local counterpart. On March 30, 2015, SAFE promulgated Circular 19, which expands a pilot reform of the administration of the settlement of the foreign exchange capitals of foreign-invested enterprises nationwide. Circular 19 came into force and replaced both previous Circular 142 and Circular 36 on June 1, 2015. Circular 19 allows all foreign-invested enterprises established in the PRC to use their foreign exchange capitals to make equity investment and removes certain other restrictions provided in Circular 142. However, Circular 19 continues to prohibit foreign-invested enterprises from, among other things, using RMB fund converted from its foreign exchange capitals for expenditure beyond its business scope, providing entrusted loans or repaying loans between non-financial enterprises. In addition, SAFE strengthened its oversight of the flow and use of the RMB capital converted from foreign currency registered capital of a foreign-invested company. The use of such RMB capital may not be altered without SAFE’s approval, and such RMB capital may not in any case be used to repay RMB loans if the proceeds of such loans have not been used. Violations of Circular 19 could result in severe monetary or other penalties. These circulars may significantly limit our ability to use RMB converted from the cash provided by our offshore financing activities to fund the establishment of new entities in China by our PRC subsidiary, to invest in or acquire any other PRC companies through our PRC subsidiary, or to establish new variable interest entities in the PRC.

In light of the various requirements imposed by PRC regulations on loans to and direct investment in PRC entities by offshore holding companies, we cannot assure you that we will be able to complete the necessary government registrations or obtain the necessary government approvals on a timely basis, if at all, with respect to future loans to our PRC subsidiary or future capital contributions by us to our PRC subsidiary. If we fail to complete such registrations or obtain such approvals, our ability to use the proceeds we expect to receive from any securities transactions that we may undertake to capitalize or otherwise fund our PRC operations may be negatively affected, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and our ability to fund and expand our business.

Failure to make adequate contributions to various employee benefit plans as required by PRC regulations may subject us to penalties.

We are required under PRC laws and regulations to participate in various government sponsored employee benefit plans, including certain social insurance, housing funds and other welfare-oriented payment obligations, and contribute to the plans in amounts equal to certain percentages of salaries, including bonuses and allowances, of our employees up to a maximum amount specified by the local government from time to time at locations where we operate our businesses. The requirement of employee benefit plans has not been implemented consistently by the local governments in China given the different levels of economic development in different locations. We have not made adequate employee benefit payments. We may be required to make up the contributions for these plans as well as to pay late fees and fines. If we are subject to late fees or fines in relation to the underpaid employee benefits, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.

The M&A Rules and certain other PRC regulations establish complex procedures for some acquisitions of Chinese companies by foreign investors, which could make it more difficult for us to pursue growth through acquisitions in China.

The Regulations on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors, or the M&A Rules, adopted by six PRC regulatory agencies in August 2006 and amended in 2009, and some other regulations and rules concerning mergers and acquisitions established additional procedures and requirements that could make merger and acquisition activities by foreign investors more time consuming and complex, including requirements in some instances that the MOC be notified in advance of any change-of-control transaction in which a foreign investor takes control of a PRC domestic enterprise. Moreover, the Anti-Monopoly Law requires that the MOC shall be notified in advance of any concentration of undertaking if certain thresholds are triggered. In addition, the security review rules issued by the MOC that became effective in September 2011 specify that mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors that raise “national defense and security” concerns and mergers and acquisitions through which foreign investors may acquire de facto control over domestic enterprises that raise “national security” concerns are subject to strict review by the MOC, and the rules prohibit any activities attempting to bypass a security review, including by structuring the transaction through a proxy or contractual control arrangement. In the future, we may grow our business by acquiring complementary businesses. Complying with the requirements of the above-mentioned regulations and other relevant rules to complete such transactions could be time consuming, and any required approval processes, including obtaining approval from the MOC or its local counterparts may delay or inhibit our ability to complete such transactions, which could affect our ability to expand our business or maintain our market share.

Any failure to comply with PRC regulations regarding the registration requirements for employee stock incentive plans may subject the PRC plan participants or us to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

In February 2012, SAFE promulgated the Notices on Issues Concerning the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Publicly-Listed Company, replacing earlier rules promulgated in March 2007. Pursuant to these rules, PRC citizens and non-PRC citizens who reside in China for a continuous period of not less than one year who participate in any stock incentive plan of an overseas publicly listed company, subject to a few exceptions, are required to register with SAFE through a domestic qualified agent, which could be the PRC subsidiary of such overseas listed company, and complete certain other procedures. In addition, an overseas entrusted institution must be retained to handle matters in connection with the exercise or sale of stock options and the purchase or sale of shares and interests. We and our executive officers and other employees who are PRC citizens or who have resided in the PRC for a continuous period of not less than one year and who have been granted options or other awards are subject to these regulations. Failure to complete the SAFE registrations may subject them to fines and legal sanctions and may also limit our ability to contribute additional capital into our PRC subsidiary and limit our PRC subsidiary’ ability to distribute dividends to us. We also face regulatory uncertainties that could restrict our ability to adopt additional incentive plans for our directors, executive officers and employees under PRC law.

Regulatory bodies of the United States may be limited in their ability to conduct investigations or inspections of our operations in China.

From time to time, the Company may receive requests from certain U.S. agencies to investigate or inspect the Company’s operations, or to otherwise provide information. While the Company will be compliant with these requests from these regulators, there is no guarantee that such requests will be honored by those entities who provide services to us or with whom we associate, especially as those entities are located in China. Furthermore, an on-site inspection of our facilities by any of these regulators may be limited or entirely prohibited. Such inspections, though permitted by the Company and its affiliates, are subject to the capricious nature of Chinese enforcers, and may therefore be impossible to facilitate.

The laws and regulations governing the online consumer finance industry in China are evolving rapidly. If any of our business practices is deemed to violate any PRC laws or regulations, or if our arrangements with financing partners are adjusted, we may have to change our business model, and our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

On December 1, 2017, the Internet Finance Rectification Office and the Online Lending Rectification Office jointly issued the Notice on Regulating and Rectifying “Cash Loan” Business, or Circular 141, outlining general requirements on the “cash loan” business conducted by network microcredit companies, banking financial institutions and online lending information intermediaries. Circular 141 specifies the features of “cash loans” as not relying on consumption scenarios, with no specified use of loan proceeds, no qualification requirement on customers and unsecured etc. Circular 141 sets forth several general requirements with respect to “cash loan” business, including, without limitation: (i) no organizations or individuals may conduct the lending business without obtaining approvals for the lending business; (ii) the aggregated borrowing costs of borrowers charged by institutions in the forms of interest and various fees should be annualized and subject to the limit on interest rate of private lending set forth in the Private Lending Judicial Interpretations issued by the Supreme People’s Court; (iii) all relevant institutions shall follow the “know-your-customer” principle and prudentially assess and determine the borrower’s eligibility, credit limit and cooling-off period, etc. Loans to any borrower without income sources are prohibited; and (iv) all relevant institutions shall enhance the internal risk control and prudentially use the “data-driven” risk management model. In additions, Circular 141 emphasizes several requirements on the online lending information intermediaries. For instance, such intermediaries are prohibited from facilitating any loans to students or other persons without repayment source or repayment capacity, or loans with no designated use of proceeds. Also, such intermediaries are not permitted to deduct interest, handling fee, management fee or deposit from the principal of loans provided to the borrowers in advance. Any violation of Circular 141 may result in penalties, including but not limited to suspension of operation, orders to make rectification, condemnation, disapproval of recordation, revocation of license, order to cease business operation, and criminal liabilities.

Given that the loans we select qualified car dealerships borrowers based on their historical sales volume generated through credit card transactions using UnionPay’s system and our loans are based on real consumption scenarios with specified use, we believe they should not be deemed as “cash loans” under Circular 141, and thus our microfinancing business is not subject to the regulation of Circular 141.

However, as the Circular 141 has been issued fairly recently and the laws and regulations governing the online consumer finance industry in China are evolving rapidly, there are substantial uncertainties regarding the interpretation and application of the regulations. Accordingly, we cannot rule out the possibility that the PRC regulatory authorities may take a view that is contrary to ours and view the microfinancing business as “cash loans.” Therefore, in the event that the loans are deemed as “cash loans” under the Circular 141, we may have to significantly change our business model, which would materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

Our Common Stock has limited public trading market

The Company’s common stock is currently traded on the OTCQB tier of the OTC Market under the symbol “CCGN”. There is a limited trading market for the Company’s common stock and the bid and asked prices for its common stock on the OTCQB may fluctuate widely. Accordingly, there can be no assurance as to the liquidity of any markets that may develop for the Company’s common stock, the ability of holders of the Company’s common stock to sell shares of the Company’s common stock, or the prices at which holders may be able to sell their common stock. Subsequently, investors may need to bear the economic risk of an investment in the Company’s securities for an indefinite period of time, which may hamper the Company’s ability to raise additional capital. Even if an active market develops for the common stock, Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which provides for an exemption from the registration requirements under the Securities Act, under certain conditions, requires a holding period prior to the resale (in limited amounts) of securities acquired in a non-public offering without having to satisfy the registration requirements under the Securities Act. There can be no assurance that we will fulfill any reporting requirements in the future under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or disseminate to the public any current financial or other information concerning the Company, as is required by Rule 144 as part of the conditions of its availability. The liquidity of the Company’s common stock on the OTCQB is expected to be less than if such shares of common stock traded on a nationally-recognized exchange. As a result, an investor may find it more difficult to dispose of or obtain accurate quotations for the price of the Company’s common stock, and the price of the common stock could suffer a significant decline. Delisting may also impair the Company’s ability to raise capital. Consequently, investors may not be able to liquidate their investment or liquidate it at a price that reflects the value of the business. Our securities should be purchased only by investors having no need for liquidity in their investment and who can hold our securities for an indefinite period of time.

We are not likely to pay dividends in the foreseeable future.

We currently intend to retain any future earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business. Accordingly, we do not expect to pay any dividends in the foreseeable future, but will review this policy as circumstances dictate. Accordingly, you may have to sell some or all common stock to generate cash. You may not receive a gain on the investment when you sell shares of the Company’s common stock and may lose the entire amount of the investment.

Our Common Stock may be subject now and in the future to the SEC’s “Penny Stock” rules.

We may be subject now and in the future to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules if our shares of Common Stock sell below $5.00 per share. Penny stocks generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00. The penny stock rules require broker-dealers to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the SEC which provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks in the penny stock market. The broker-dealer must also provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson, and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account. The bid and offer quotations, and the broker-dealer and salesperson compensation information must be given to the customer orally or in writing prior to completing the transaction and must be given to the customer in writing before or with the customer’s confirmation.

In addition, the penny stock rules require that prior to a transaction; the broker dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction. The penny stock rules are burdensome and may reduce purchases of any offerings and reduce the trading activity for shares of our Common Stock. As long as our shares of Common Stock are subject to the penny stock rules, the holders of such shares of Common Stock may find it more difficult to sell their securities.

We may incur significant costs to comply with U.S. corporate governance and accounting requirements

We may incur significant costs associated with our public company reporting requirements, costs associated with newly applicable corporate governance requirements, including but not limited to requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. We expect all of these applicable rules and regulations to significantly increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time consuming and costly. We also expect that these applicable rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these newly applicable rules, and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. In addition, we may not be able to absorb these costs of being a public company which will negatively affect our business operations.

Possible volatility in the price of the Company’s common stock and limited trading volume could negatively affect us and our stockholders.

The price of shares of the Company’s common stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile. During the 2018 fiscal year, the trading price of the Company’s common stock fluctuated from a high of $8.80 per share to a low of $1.01 per share. The price of the Company’s common stock is subject to wide fluctuations due to a number of other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, including:

The U.S. securities markets experience significant price and volume fluctuations. These fluctuations often have been unrelated to the operating performance of companies in these markets. Broad market and industry factors may lead to volatility in the price of the Company’s common stock, regardless of operating performance. Moreover, the Company’s stock has limited trading volume, and this illiquidity may increase the volatility of the Company’s stock price. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of an individual company’s securities, securities class action litigation has been instituted against that company. If limited trading in our stock continues, it may be difficult for investors to sell their shares in the public market at any given time at prevailing prices. Moreover, the market price for shares of our common stock may be made more volatile because of the relatively low volume of trading in our common stock. When trading volume is low, significant price movement can be caused by the trading in a relatively small number of shares. Volatility in our common stock could cause stockholders to incur substantial losses.

As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to provide the information required by this item.

Our corporate headquarters are located at 1125 Route 9W S., Nyack, NY 10960. On November 1, 2018, we entered into a three-year lease agreement (the “Lease”) with a related party, Lihua Xiao, a U.S. resident with Chinese passport, for our principal executive office. The Lease started on January 1, 2019 and will expire on December 31, 2021, subject to renewal. Based on the lease agreement, the Company pays a monthly rent of $5,000.

We operate our business in China in an office located on a premise leased by Arki Network in Beijing. On January 3, 2017, Arki Network entered into a Lease Transfer Agreement pursuant to which Arki Network became the leasee of an office located at Gaobeidian Section 1, Unit 7-2, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. Pursuant to the terms of the Lease Transfer Agreement, Arki Network has agreed to pay an annual rent of RMB 350,000 (approximately US$50,000) for 450 square meters of office space. The Lease Transfer Agreement became effective on January 16, 2017 and will expire on January 15, 2022.

All of the above leases are for commercial use. We believe that our existing facilities are adequate for our current requirements and we will be able to enter into lease arrangements on commercially reasonable terms for future expansion.

From time to time, we may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings which arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties and an adverse result in these or other matters may arise from time to time that may harm our business. We are currently not aware of any such legal proceedings or claims that we believe will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results.

Not applicable.

PART II

Market Information

Our common stock trades on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol “CCGN”. The OTCQB Venture Market is a quotation service that displays real-time quotes, last-sale prices, and volume information in over-the-counter (“OTC”) equity securities. An OTCQB equity security generally is any equity that is not listed or traded on a national securities exchange.

Price Range of Common Stock

The following table shows, for the periods indicated, the high and low bid prices per share of our common stock as reported by the OTCQB’s quotation service. These bid prices represent prices quoted by broker-dealers on the OTCQB quotation service. The quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commissions, and may not represent actual transactions.

The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low bid prices of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock is subject to significant fluctuations in response to variations in our quarterly operating results, general trends in the market, and other factors, over many of which we have little or no control. In addition, broad market fluctuations, as well as general economic, business and political conditions, may adversely affect the market for our common stock, regardless of our actual or projected performance.

Holders of Our Common Stock

As of December 31, 2018, we had approximately 6,069 shareholders of record of our common stock. This number does not include shares held by brokerage clearing houses, depositories or others in unregistered form.

Dividends

Under applicable PRC regulations, foreign-invested enterprises in the PRC may pay dividends only out of their accumulated profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. In addition, a foreign-invested enterprise in the PRC is required to set aside at least 10% of its after-tax profit (determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards) each year to its general reserves until the accumulative amount of such reserves reach 50% of its registered capital. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends.

We have not paid dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate paying such dividends in the foreseeable future. We will rely on dividends from our PRC Operating Entities for our funds and PRC regulations (described above) may limit the amount of funds distributable to us from our PRC Operating Entities, which will affect our ability to declare any dividends

Sales of Unregistered Securities Unregistered Securities

Except as previously reported in our filings with the SEC and as described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we did not sell unregistered securities during the quarter ended December 31, 2018.

Not applicable.

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes to consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-K. Certain statements in this report are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this report, words such as “may,” “should,” “seek,” “believe,” “expect,” anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “strategy” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements regarding events, conditions and financial trends that may affect the Company’s future plans, operations, business strategies, operating results and financial position. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, trends, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry trends and results, to differ materially from the future results, trends, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors are discussed in this report and from time-to-time in other reports that we file with the SEC. We expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether due to new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Overview

We strive to become a one-stop shop that focuses on microfinancing services for car dealerships in China. We are primarily engaged in the businesses of microfinancing. We operate our direct microfinancing business through our variable interest entity, or “VIE”, Arki Network and its subsidiary, Arki Capital. With the increased difficulty of obtaining sufficient financing through traditional channels, we offer car dealerships alternative financing means through risk-controlled private lending to meet their capital needs and develop their business. It is our belief that the growth of car dealerships will become an important factor of China’s economic growth in the next decade. We believe that our expertise in streamlining microfinancing process will place our company in a unique position in the marketplace.

Microfinancing

Currently, we engage in microfinancing business through our VIE, Arki Network, and its subsidiary, Arki Capital to provide direct loans primarily to car dealerships based in Liaoning Province. Our relationship with Arki Network is governed by a series of contractual relationships among Arki Network, the shareholders of Arki Network, and two of our subsidiaries, Arki E-Commerce and America Arki. Prior to focusing our targeted customer basis on car dealerships, we provided loans to small and medium sized enterprises and sole proprietors. We do not lend to individuals. Through Arki Network’s collaboration with China UnionPay Merchant Service (Liaoning) Co. Ltd (“UnionPay Liaoning”), Arki Capital provides private loans to borrowers for a service fee of 5%, and Arki Network and UnionPay Liaoning act as intermediaries to facilitate the loan transactions for an additional service fee. Arki Network charges a service fee of 3% per loan term (usually 3 months) of the loan proceeds, of which 0.5% is paid to UnionPay Liaoning. Our business practice of microfinancing has been limited to certain businesses pre-screened and recommended by UnionPay Liaoning based on historical sales volume generated through credit card transactions using UnionPay’s system.

Arki E-Commerce provides private loans for borrowers and Arki Network and UnionPay act as intermediary to facilitate the loan transactions for a 5% service fee (92% is payable to Arki Network and 3% to UnionPay Liaoning). Arki E-Commerce’s practice of microfinancing has been limited to certain businesses and sole proprietors pre-screened and recommended by UnionPay Liaoning based on historical sales volume generated through credit card transactions using UnionPay’s system.

Investment Opportunity Marketing

Arki Network through its 51%-owned subsidiary, Arki Capital, engages in the business of marketing investment opportunities. In essence, this business has provided a source funds used to make loans to the microfinancing businesses. Arki Capital operates its business on its financial advisory platform “Bangnitou”, which translates to “Help You Invest” in English and attracts capital from investors to invest in fixed income opportunities such as inter-bank loans, currency exchange products and other debt and equity investment opportunities to help investors obtain a return on their investment. Among the potential investment opportunities for this business are the car dealerships loans that are made through Arki Network. This business does not operate in the United States. Still in its development stage, Bangnitou intends to commercialize a number of financial products that aim to generate annual returns ranging from 8-12%. Once each product reaches its maximum subscription or the end of its offering period, the investments are held for a period of time before being redeemable by the investors, along with the return. As of December 31, 2018, Arki Capital has received funds of RMB16,600,000 (approximately $2,478,000), which were presented as cash as an asset and loan payable as a liability on our consolidated balance sheet.

The service fees generated by these loans are typically paid by borrowers as a one-time payment for each loan. The service fees compensate for the costs that are incurred in servicing the related loan, including managing funding from investors, payments to investors and maintaining borrowers’ account portfolios. We record service fees paid by borrower as a component of operating revenue when received. We provide funding of the private loans for borrowers and Arki Network and UnionPay collectively act as intermediaries to facilitate the loan transactions. UnionPay Liaoning provides the qualified borrowers (based on historical sales volume generated through credit card transactions using UnionPay’s system). Arki Network would receive a one-time service fee for each loan when the clients receive the loan. Interest on loan receivables is accrued monthly in accordance with their contractual terms and recorded in accrued interest receivable. Under its current business model, the Company does not charge prepayment penalties from customers.

Key Factors that Affect Operating Results

Our operating subsidiaries are incorporated, and our operations and assets are primarily located, in the PRC. Accordingly, our results of operations, financial condition and prospects are affected by China’s economic and regulation conditions in the following factors: (a) an economic downturn in China or any regional market in China; (b) economic policies and initiatives undertaken by the PRC government; (c) changes in the PRC or regional business or regulatory environment affecting the SME and microenterprise sector; (d) changes to prevailing market interest rates; (e) a higher rate of bankruptcy; (f) the deterioration of the creditworthiness of SMEs and microenterprises in general; and (g) the change of currency exchange rate of RMB to USD. Unfavorable changes could affect demand for the services that we provide and could materially and adversely affect the results of operations. Although we have generally benefited from China’s economic growth and the policies to encourage lending to SMEs, we are also affected by the complexity, uncertainties and changes in the PRC economic conditions and regulations governing the non-banking financial industry.

Our results of operations are also affected by the provision for loan losses and impairment allowance for the investment in financial assets which are a noncash item and represent an assessment of the risk of future loan losses and impairment losses. The amount of provisions or allowances has been recorded based on management’s assessment. We may increase or decrease the allowance for loan losses and impairment losses for investment in financial assets based on any such change of economic conditions and the change of management’s assessment. Any change in the allowance for loan losses would have an effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Recent Developments

On August 21, 2018, we incorporated Arki Tianjin E-Commerce, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arki Network and a limited liability company formed under the laws of the PRC. We are developing the e-commerce business for art and antique through Arki Network and Arki Tianjin E-Commerce. This entity will operate our consumer marketing website of www.ccmus.com and the antique and paintings website of wancang.net.

On March 21 2019, we established Arki Guangzhou in Guangzhou, China, which is 100% owned by Arki Capital. Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province, and it is the center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This area has been established as a special development area by the Chinese government in February 2019, and we intend to further develop our business, especially Bangnitou business, in this area. The registered capital of the company is RMB 200,000. We intend to explore additional related business opportunities in the near future.

On November 17, 2017, Arki Network, Beijing Shenzhou Rongtong Investment Management Co. Ltd. (“Shenzhou Rongtong”), a company organized under the law of People’s Republic of China, and all the shareholders of Shenzhou Rongtong, entered into an equity transfer agreement, pursuant to which Arki Network agreed to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding equity securities of Shenzhou Rongtong from its shareholders, in exchange for the issuance of an aggregate of 4,175,417 shares of common stock of the Company, to the shareholders of Shenzhou Rongtong within 15 days of the closing of the transaction. In connection with the transaction, the Company also engaged a consultant to provide acquisition-related services, which services were paid for through the issuance of 824,583 shares of Common Stock. The transaction was not completed as of December 31, 2017 and all of the shares were returned and cancelled.

Critical Accounting Policies

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements requires the use of estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Our management periodically evaluates the estimates and judgments made. Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates as a result of different assumptions or conditions. 

The methods, estimates, and judgment we use in applying our most critical accounting policies have a significant impact on the results we report in our financial statements. The SEC has defined “critical accounting policies” as those accounting policies that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results, and require us to make our most difficult and subjective judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates of matters that are inherently uncertain. Based upon this definition, our most critical estimates relate to the fair value of warrant liabilities, impairment of long-lived assets, commitments and contingencies, and revenue recognition. We also have other key accounting estimates and policies, but we believe that these other policies either do not generally require us to make estimates and judgments that are as difficult or as subjective, or it is less likely that they would have a material impact on our reported results of operations for a given period. For additional information see Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this report. Although we believe that our estimates and assumptions are reasonable, they are based upon information presently available, and actual results may differ significantly from these estimates.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires our management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Foreign Currency Translation

The Company’s reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. The Company’s functional currency is the local currency in the PRC, the Chinese Yuan (RMB). The financial statements of the Company are translated into United States dollars in accordance with ASC 830, Foreign Currency Matters, using yearend rates of exchange for assets and liabilities, and average rates of exchange for the period for revenues, costs, and expenses and historical rates for equity. Translation adjustments resulting from the process of translating the local currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are included in determining comprehensive income.

In accordance with ASC 830, Foreign Currency Matters, the Company translated the assets and liabilities into US dollars ($) using the rate of exchange prevailing at the applicable balance sheet date and the statements of income and cash flows are translated at an average rate during the reporting period. Adjustments resulting from the translation are recorded in investors’ equity as part of accumulated other comprehensive income. The exchange rates used to translate amounts in RMB into US Dollars for the purposes of preparing the financial statements are as follows:

Revenue Recognition

ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”), establishes principles for reporting information about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from the entity’s contracts to provide goods or services to customers. The core principle requires an entity to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that it expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods or services recognized as performance obligations are satisfied. Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASU 2014-09 Revenue from Contracts with Customers – Topic 606 and all subsequent ASCs that modified ASC 606.  The Company has elected to apply the standard utilizing the modified retrospective approach with a cumulative effect of adoption for the impact from uncompleted contracts as the date of adoption.  The implementation of the new standard had no material impact to the measurement or recognition of revenue of prior periods.

The Company’s revenue is comprised of:

Interest and Fee Income

Interest income on loans

Interest on loan receivables is accrued monthly in accordance with their contractual terms and recorded in accrued interest receivable. The Company does not currently charge prepayment penalties from its customers.

Servicing fee income

Borrowers typically pay us a servicing fee on each payment received. The service fees compensate us for the costs we incur in servicing the related loan, including managing funding from investors, payments to investors and maintaining borrower’ account portfolios. We record servicing fees paid by borrower as a component of operating revenue when received.

Yin Hang provided credit risks assessment services to the borrowers and lenders on a third party P2P online lending platform. The service fees calculated based on complexity, required time, contents and commercial value of the coordination services between borrowers and lenders and are collected when the loan agreements are signed completely by all parties but before releasing the money to the borrowers.

Noninterest Income

E-commerce Revenue Recognition

We evaluate whether it is appropriate to record the net amount of sales earned as commissions. We are not the primary obligor nor are we subject to inventory risk as the agreements with our suppliers specify that they have the responsibility to provide the product or service to the customer. Also, the amounts we earn from our vendors/suppliers is based on a fixed percentage and bound contractually. Additionally, the Company does not have any obligation to resolve disputes between the vendors and the customers that purchase the products on our website. Any disputes involving damaged, non-functional, product returns, and/or warranty defects are resolved between the customer and the vendor. The Company has no obligation for right of return and/or warranty for any of the sales completed using its website. Since we are not primarily obligated and amounts earned are determined using a fixed percentage, a fixed-payment schedule, or a combination of the two, we record our revenues as commissions earned on a net basis.

We record deferred revenue when cash is received in advance of the performance of services or delivery of goods. Deferred revenue is also recorded to account for the seven-day grace period offered to customers for potential product disputes, if any. Because of the lack of sales generated on our online retail platforms, we ceased our E-commerce business in first quarter of 2015.

Commission income for art & antique trading platform

The Company started to operate the platform for art & antique trading in the 3rd quarter of 2018. On August 21, 2018, the Company incorporated Arki Tianjin E-Commerce, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arki Network formed under the laws of the PRC. The Company plans to develop the e-commerce business for art and antique through Arki Network and Arki Tianjin E-Commerce. Sellers will place their art and antiques on our platform for sale. The Company will receive commission income of 25% of the selling price.

Discontinued Operations

See “Note 11 — DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS” to the consolidated financial statements for additional information.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

We consider all investments with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents primarily represent funds invested in bank checking accounts, money market funds and domestic Chinese bank certificates of deposit. At December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had no cash equivalents.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company’s financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, prepaid expenses, other receivables, other assets, accounts payable, accrued liabilities, other payables, related party payables, short term debt and derivative liabilities. These financial instruments are measured at their respective fair values. For fair value measurement, US GAAP establishes a three-tier hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs used in the valuation methodologies in measuring fair value:

Level 1 observable inputs that reflect quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

Level 2 include other inputs that are directly or indirectly observable in the marketplace.

Level 3 unobservable inputs which are supported by little or no market activity.

Fair value hierarchy also requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value.

The carrying value of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, advance to suppliers, prepaid expenses, other receivables, other assets, account payable, accrued liabilities, other payables, and short term debt approximates their fair value due to their short-term maturities.

The Company has determined the estimated fair value amounts presented in these financial statements using available market information and appropriate methodologies. However, considerable judgment is required in interpreting market data to develop the estimates of fair value. The estimates presented in the financial statements are not necessarily indicative of the amounts that could be realized in a current market exchange. The use of different market assumptions and/or estimation methodologies may have a material effect on the estimated fair value amounts.

Management believes it is not practical to estimate the fair value of related party payables because the transactions cannot be assumed to have been consummated at arm’s length, the terms are not deemed to be market terms, there are no quoted values available for these instruments, and an independent valuation would not be practical due to the lack of data regarding similar instruments, if any, and the associated potential costs.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements  

A discussion of recently issued accounting pronouncements is described in Note 3 in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements filed with this Annual Report, and we incorporate such discussion by reference.

Results of Operations - Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2018 and 2017

The following table sets forth the results of our operations for the periods indicated in U.S. dollars.

The weighted average yield on loans receivable and the weighted average cost of loans payable is as below:

Revenue.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, we derived $0 revenue from Arki E-commerce, compared to net revenue of $48,388 for the year ended December 31, 2017, a decrease of $48,388. The revenue decrease was caused by temporary suspension of our microfinancing business during 2018 because of funding shortfalls.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, revenues from Arki Network are Service Fee income of $446,606, compared to $0 for the year ended December 31, 2017. Revenue from Arki Capital consists of loan interest income of $893,212 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $0 for the year ended December 31, 2017. Revenue from Arki E-Commerce –Tianjin is interest income of $563,429 for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Cost of Revenue.

We had cost of sales of $297,737 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $0 for the year ended December 31, 2017. This cost was incurred in Arki Network for the purpose of generating the service fee income.

Gross Profit

As a result of our revenue and cost of revenue described above, we had gross profit of $1,605,510 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to gross profit of $48,388 for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Selling, general and administrative expenses.

General and administrative expenses consist of rent, salaries, professional fees, office expenses, utilities, business travel, amortization expenses, public company expenses (including legal expenses, accounting expenses, listing fees and investor relations expenses, etc.). General and administrative expenses were $1,539,082 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $1,939,290 for the year ended December 31, 2017, a decrease of $400,208 or 21%. The decrease is mainly attributed to the decrease in filing fees and professional fees in public company expenses, legal and accounting expense, and other professional fees.

Income (Loss) from operations.

As a result of the factors described above, operating income was $66,428 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to an operating loss of $1,890,290 for the year ended December 31, 2017, a net increase of $1,957,330. The increase was mainly caused by the additional income we generated, as described above. The reduction in operating expenses also supported our increase in operating income.

Other income and expenses.

We generated an investment loss of $10,700 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $0 for the year ended December 31, 2017. The investment loss in 2018 was caused by the winding down of operations of America Arki (Fuxin) in June 2018 due to inactivity.

We incurred $219 and $0 in other expense for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Other expense in 2018 was miscellaneous fees incurred in Arki E-Commerce.

We generated interest income of $26,008 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $6,312 for the year ended December 31, 2017. Interest income is related to a financial product we had with Eastwest Bank in China. We redeemed this product during 2018 and generated interest income.

We incurred interest expense to related parties of $1,158,375 and $716,328 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, an increase of $442,047 or 62%. Interest expense to third parties was $2,482,626 and $1,100,486 for the years ended December 2018 and 2017, respectively, an increase of $1,382,140 or 126%. The increase of interest expenses was caused by the increase of loans payable in connection with our Bangnitou product. We regard all the shareholders, officers and the companies under their name as related parties.

We incurred loan losses of $3,483 and $0 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. As of December 31, 2018, the loan amount of RMB2,300,000 was due and unpaid. Although this amount was paid after the balance sheet date, we accrued 1% of the total loan amount as the provision for loan loss.

Income tax.

We do not have income tax expense for either of the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 because we did not generate net income.

Net loss from continuing operations.

As a result of the factors described above, we incurred a net loss of $3,562,967 and $3,701,404, respectively from continuing operations for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, a decrease in loss of $138,437, or 4%.

Net losses from discontinued operations.

Net losses from Yin Hang (discontinued business) for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 were $0 and $2,926,423, respectively, and were included in net loss from discontinued operations.

Net losses.

As a result of the factors above, our net losses for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $3,562,967, compared to net loss of $6,627,827 for the year ended December 31, 2017, a decrease of loss of $3,064,860 or 46%.

Net losses attributable to the company.

Net losses attributable to our Company were $1,983,329, or $0.07 per share (basic and diluted), for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to a loss of $5,588,291, or $0.17 per share (basic and diluted), for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Foreign currency translation.

Our consolidated financial statements are expressed in U.S. dollars but the functional currency of our operating subsidiary is RMB. Results of operations and cash flows are translated at average exchange rates during the period, assets and liabilities are translated at the unified exchange rate at the end of the period and equity is translated at historical exchange rates. Translation adjustments resulting from the process of translating the financial statements denominated in RMB into U.S. dollars are included in determining comprehensive income. Our foreign currency translation gain for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $73,987, compared to translation loss of $246,478 for the year ended December 31, 2017. The gain and loss was primarily due to the fluctuation of the exchange rate.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

All of our business operations are carried out by our PRC subsidiaries or variable interest entities, and all of the cash generated by our operations has been held by those entity. In order to transfer such cash to our parent entity, Consumer Capital Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation, we would need to rely on dividends, loans or advances made by our PRC subsidiaries. Such transfers may be subject to certain regulations or risks. To date, our parent entity has paid its expenses by raising capital through private placement transactions. In the future, in the event that our parent entity is unable to raise needed funds from private investors, our PRC subsidiaries or variable interest entities would have to transfer funds to our parent entity.

As shown in our financial statements, we have negative cash flows from operations. Over the past years, we have been funded through advances from related parties, including our CEO Jianmin Gao and COO Fei Gao. These advances are non-interest bearing and have no specified maturity date. Because these individuals are also shareholders of the company, they are willing to provide continuing funding on an as-needed basis. However, as of the date of hereof, such related parties do not have any existing obligation to advance funds or working capital to support our business, nor can our company rely on any advance funds from such related parties. In the event that we do not have sufficient working capital to fund the expansion of our operations and to provide working capital necessary for our ongoing operations and obligations, we may need to raise additional capital to fund our operating expenses, pay our obligations and grow our company. Financing transactions may include the issuance of equity or debt securities, obtaining credit facilities, or other financing mechanisms. In addition, a downturn in the U.S. equity and debt markets could make it more difficult to obtain financing through the issuance of equity or debt securities. Even if we are able to raise the funds required, it is possible that we could incur unexpected costs and expenses, fail to collect amounts owed to us, or experience unexpected cash requirements that would force us to seek alternative financing. We may incur additional interest expense on new external debt due to paying market rates of interest if we decided to fund the operation through external debt. Furthermore, if we issue additional equity or debt securities, stockholders may experience additional dilution or the new equity securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing holders of our common stock. The inability to obtain additional capital will restrict our ability to grow and may reduce our ability to continue to conduct business operations. 

The RMB cannot be freely exchanged into Dollars. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”) administers foreign exchange dealings and requires that they be conducted though designated financial institutions.

These factors will limit the amount of funds that we can transfer from our PRC Subsidiaries to our parent entity and may delay any such transfer. In addition, upon repatriation of earnings of PRC Subsidiaries to the United States, those earnings may become subject to United States federal and state income taxes. We have not accrued any U.S. federal or state tax liability on the undistributed earnings of our foreign subsidiary because those funds are intended to be indefinitely reinvested in our international operations. Accordingly, taxes imposed upon repatriation of those earnings to the U.S. would reduce the net worth of the Company.

No additional shares were issued during the year ended December 31, 2018. During 2017 the Company issued a total of 30,000 shares to various shareholders for the amount of $3. During, 2016, the Company issued a total of 1,013,109 shares to various shareholders for the amount of USD $1,169,503. A portion of the capital raised was used for working capital purpose and the remaining portion of the capital was used to fund our microfinancing operation. 

As of December 31, 2018, cash and cash equivalents were $501,350, compared to cash and cash equivalents of $725,774 at December 31, 2017, a decrease of $224,424 or 31%.

The following table sets forth information about our net cash flow for the years indicated:

Cash Flows Data:

Net cash flow used in operating activities was $2,153,575 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $2,659,222 used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2017, a decrease of $505,647, or 19%. The decrease in net cash flow used in operating activities was mainly due to additional interest accrued in 2018 compared to 2017.

Net cash flow provided by investing activities was $89,708 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $934,651 used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017, a decrease of $844,943, or 90%. The decrease is mainly due to the greater volume of loans that were disbursed in 2018 compared to 2017.

Net cash flow provided by financing activities was $2,299,924 for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $1,640,331 for the year ended December 31, 2017, an increase of $659,593, or 40%. The increase is the result of the offset of loan payments and loans received in the year.

Going Concern

We expect existing resources, revenues generated from operations, and proceeds received from other transactions we are considering (of which there can be no assurance) to satisfy working capital requirements for at least the next twelve months, however, no assurances can be given, that we will be able to generate sufficient cash flow from operations or complete other transactions to satisfy our other obligations. The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to the recoverability and classification of assets carrying amounts or the amounts and classifications of liabilities that might result from the outcome of these uncertainties. Accordingly, the Company needs to raise additional capital and is exploring potential transactions to improve its capital position. Unless we increase revenues substantially or generate additional capital from other transactions, current cash resources will only satisfy working capital needs for a limited period of time.

Management has concluded that due to the conditions described above, there is substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. While our plan is to raise capital from commercial operations to address our capital deficiencies and meet our operating cash requirements, we will need to seek capital from other sources will need to seek capital from other sources. We would expect to raise additional funds through obtaining a credit facility from an institutional lender or undertaking a private or registered financing. Raising additional funds by issuing equity or convertible debt securities may cause stockholders to experience substantial dilution in their ownership interests and new investors may have rights superior to the rights of other stockholders. Raising additional funds through debt financing or preferred stock, if available, may involve covenants that restrict the Company’s business activities and options and such additional securities may have powers, designations, preferences or rights senior to currently outstanding securities. We may also enter into financing transactions which involve the granting of liens on the Company’s assets or which grant preferences of payment from its revenue streams, all of which could adversely impact the Company’s ability to rely on revenue from operations to support ongoing operating costs. Currently, we do not have any definitive agreements with any third parties for such transactions and there can be no assurance that we will be successful in raising additional capital or securing financing when needed or on terms satisfactory to the Company. We cannot assure you that financing will be available on favorable terms or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital when required, or on acceptable terms, we will need to reduce costs and operations substantially, which would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations.

Concentration of Credit Risk 

Assets that potentially subject our Company to significant concentration of credit risk primarily consist of cash and cash equivalents, and accounts receivable. The maximum exposure of such assets to credit risk is our carrying amounts as of the balance sheet dates. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, substantially all of our cash and cash equivalents were deposited in financial institutions located in the PRC, which management believes are of high credit quality. We believe the credit risk on bank deposits is limited because the counterparties are banks with high credit ratings assigned by international credit rating agencies, or state-owned banks in China. Cash includes cash on hand and demand deposits in accounts maintained with state-owned banks within the PRC and the United States of America. Balances at financial institutions or state-owned banks within the PRC are not covered by insurance. Nonperformance by these institutions could expose our Company to losses for amounts in excess of insured balances. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, no bank balances with the banks in U.S. exceeded the insured amount. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017, our bank balances with the Banks in the PRC amounted to $489,358 and $706,771, respectively, which are uninsured and subject to credit risk. We have not experienced nonperformance by these institutions.

Financial instruments that potentially subject us to significant concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash and cash equivalents, loan receivables from borrowers and the related accrued interest receivable.

Consistent with our internal policy of maintaining a bad debt reserve of 1%, we reserved 1% of the total past due loan balance for the year ended December 31, 2018. We had no bad debt from the loans since we started the microfinancing business. We increase individual loan amounts on a case by case basis.

No single borrower has loan balance over 10% of the total loan outstanding as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Other Receivables 

Other receivable is $35,544 as of December 31, 2018, compared to $31,136 as of December 31, 2017, an increase of $4,408 or 14%. Other receivables consist of:

Prepaid expenses

Prepaid expenses of $508,499 in 2018 consists of $54,064 prepaid expense in Arki Network, a security deposit of $453,235, and $1,200 prepaid rent in Consumer Capital Group, Inc. For the year ended December 31, 2017, prepaid expenses totaled $58,225, consisting of $57,025 prepaid expense in Arki Network and $1,200 prepaid rent in Consumer Capital Group Inc.

Short-term investment

As of December 31, 2018, we held no short-term investments. Short-term investments of $461,115 outstanding as of December 31, 2017, which were held as available-for-sale investments of RMB3,000,000 for Arki E-Commerce, were redeemed during the year ended December 31, 2018.

Commitments and Contractual Obligations

Operating Leases

The Company has entered into lease agreements with various third parties. The terms of such non-cancellable operating leases are one to five years. As of December 31, 2018, the Company was obligated under non-cancellable operating leases minimum rentals as follows:

Year Ended December 31,

The rent expense for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $64,810 and $41,358, respectively.

Lease commitments

Our corporate headquarters are located at 1125 Route 9W S., Nyack, NY 10960. On November 1, 2018, we entered into a three-year lease agreement (the “Lease”) with a related party, Lihua Xiao, a U.S. resident with Chinese passport, for our principal executive office. The Lease started on January 1, 2019 and will expire on December 31, 2021, subject to renewal. Based on the lease agreement, the Company pays a monthly rent of $5,000.

We operate our business in China in an office located on a premise leased by Arki Network in Beijing. On January 3, 2017, Arki Network entered into a Lease Transfer Agreement pursuant to which Arki Network became the leasee of an office located at Gaobeidian Section 1, Unit 7-2, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. Pursuant to the terms of the Lease Transfer Agreement, Arki Network has agreed to pay an annual rent of RMB 350,000 (approximately US$50,000) for 450 square meters of office space. The Lease Transfer Agreement became effective on January 16, 2017 and will expire on January 15, 2022.

Legal Proceedings

The Company is not currently a party to any legal proceeding, investigation or claim which, in the opinion of the management, is likely to have a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition or results of operations.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have not entered into any other financial guarantees or other commitments to guarantee the payment obligations of any third parties. We have not entered into any derivative contracts that are indexed to our shares and classified as stockholders’ equity or that are not reflected in our financial statements. Furthermore, we do not have any retained or contingent interests in assets transferred to an unconsolidated entity that serves as credit, liquidity, or market risk support to such entity. We do not have any variable interests in any unconsolidated entity that provides financing, liquidity, market risk, or credit support to us or engages in leasing, hedging, or research and development services with us.

Effects of Inflation and Changing Prices

The impact of general inflation on our operations has not been significant to date, and we believe inflation will continue to have an insignificant impact on us.

Smaller reporting companies are not required to provide the information required by this item.  

The Financial Statements are annexed hereto at Part IV, Item 15 of this Report.

Dismissal of Centurion ZD CPA Ltd. and Engagement of Wei, Wei & Co., LLP.

On June 12, 2017, the Board of Directors formally approved the engagement of Wei, Wei & Co., LLP. (“Wei, Wei & Co.”) as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017. On June 15, the Company informed Centurion ZD CPA Ltd. (“Centurion ZD”) (f/k/a DCAW (CPA) Ltd. as successor to Dominic K.F. Chan & Co.) that it has been dismissed as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm based on the Board of Directors’ decision. On June 12, the Company signed an engagement letter with Wei, Wei & Co.

The reports of Centurion ZD on the Company’s financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2016, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, contained no adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion nor was qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principle.

During the years ending ended December 31, 2016, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 and the subsequent period through June 13, 2017, the date of dismissal, there have been no (i) disagreements with Centurion ZD, on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to Centurion ZD, satisfaction, would have caused Centurion ZD, to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement(s) in connection with its reports; or (ii) “reportable events” as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

As set forth above, concurrent with the decision to dismiss Centurion ZD as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, the Board of Directors approved the engagement of Wei, Wei & Co. as the Company’s new independent registered public accounting firm.

During the years ended December 31, 2016, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, and during the subsequent interim period through the date of the engagement, neither the Company nor anyone on behalf of the Company consulted Wei, Wei & Co. regarding either (a) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or contemplated, or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the financial statements of the Company, and no written or oral advice of Wei, Wei & Co. was provided with respect to any accounting, auditing, or financial reporting issue, or (b) any matter that was either the subject of a disagreement of the type described in Item 304(a)(iv) of Regulation S-K or any “reportable event” described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

Dismissal of Wei, Wei & Co., LLP. and engagement of Centurion ZD CPA Ltd.

On March 15, 2018, the Board of Directors formally approved the engagement of Centurion ZD CPA Ltd. (“Centurion ZD”) (f/k/a DCAW (CPA) Ltd. as successor to Dominic K.F. Chan & Co.) as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017. Centurion ZD was the Company’s independent registered public accounting firms for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2016, December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014. On June 12, 2017, the Company had engaged Wei, Wei & Co., LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, and dismissed Centurion ZD on June 15, 2017. On March 12, 2018, the Company informed Wei, Wei & Co. that it has been dismissed as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm based on the Board of Directors’ decision. On March 9, 2018, the Company signed an engagement letter with Centurion ZD.

Wei, Wei & Co. has not completed any audits or issued any reports on the consolidated financial statements of the company for any period.

During the period from June 12, 2017, the date of appointment, through March 12, 2018, the date of dismissal, there have been no (i) disagreements with Wei, Wei & Co., on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to Wei, Wei & Co., satisfaction, would have caused Wei, Wei & Co., to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement(s) in connection with its reports; or (ii) “reportable events” as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

As set forth above, concurrent with the decision to dismiss Wei, Wei & Co. as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, the Board of Directors approved the engagement of Centurion ZD as the Company’s new independent registered public accounting firm.

During the period from June 12, 2017 through March 9, 2018, neither the Company nor anyone on behalf of the Company consulted Centurion ZD regarding either (a) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or contemplated, or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the financial statements of the Company, and no written or oral advice of Centurion ZD was provided with respect to any accounting, auditing, or financial reporting issue, or (b) any matter that was either the subject of a disagreement of the type described in Item 304(a)(iv) of Regulation S-K or any “reportable event” described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer (our principal executive officer and principal accounting officer), evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) or 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act as of the end of the period covered by this report.  Our management does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures will prevent all error and all fraud.  In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives.  

Based on the evaluation as of December 31, 2018, for the reasons set forth below, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer (our principal executive officer and principal accounting officer) concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective to provide reasonable assurance that information we are required to disclose in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, 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.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. As defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act, “internal control over financial reporting” means a process designed by, or under the supervision of, a company’s principal executive and principal financial officers, and effected by a company’s board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance, based on an appropriate cost-benefit analysis, to the company’s management and board of directors regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of assets of the company, (ii) provide reasonable assurance that the company’s transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of the company’s financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of the company’s management and directors, and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of the unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the company’s financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal controls over financial reporting that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected.

Our internal control system was designed to, in general, provide reasonable assurance to our management and the Board of Directors regarding the preparation and fair presentation of published financial statements, but because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements.

Our management assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018. The framework used by management in making that assessment was the criteria set forth in the document entitled “Internal Control – Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework). A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. In its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control our financial reporting as of December 31, 2018, the Company determined that the following items constituted a material weakness:  

Due to the existence of the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting that have been identified as of December 31, 2018, we believe that our internal control over financial reporting was also ineffective as of December 31, 2018.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes made to our internal control over financial reporting during the year ended December 31, 2018 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, internal control over financial reporting. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and procedures and our internal controls over financial reporting on an ongoing basis and are committed to taking further action and implementing additional enhancements or improvements, as necessary. As funds allow, we will remediate material weaknesses.

None.

PART III

Our directors and executive officers are listed below.

A brief description of the background and business experience of our directors and executive officers for the past five years is as follows:

Jianmin (“Jack”) Gao, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Gao is a co-founder of our holding company, CCG. He has over 30 years of experience in credit markets, risk arbitrage, acquisitions, and venture capital as a commercial and investment banker. Mr. Gao has been the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of CCG since he founded CCG in 2009. In 2008, Mr. Gao began development of the China-based e-commerce platform owned by CCG. He founded America Pine Group Inc. (formerly known as America Pine Bio-tech Inc.) in 2006. From 1997 to 2006, he was an investment banker with the U.S. firm Blackwater Capital Group. Mr. Gao earned a Master’s degree in Finance from Tsinghua University in 2002. We believe that Mr. Gao is qualified to serve on our Board of Directors because of his experience in co-founding the Company’s China-based e-commerce platform and his broad base of knowledge and experience in the commercial and investment banking industries.

Crystal L. Chen, has been the Managing Director of United Int’l Solutions Group since 2016. From 2012 to 2016, Ms. Chen was the Partner at Liang & Company Accountancy Corp, where she focused on financial consulting and due diligence, tax consultation for international M&A cases, international assets allocation for large companies and individuals. She was also in charge of M&A projects, investment projects, and bringing overseas investors to invest in the United States. From 2010 to 2011, Ms. Chen was the CFO at H&H Store, Inc., where she helped filing a Registration Statement on Form S-1 with the SEC. From 2009 to 2010, Ms. Chen was the CFO and Vice President in Finance at QKL Stores, Inc. While there, Ms. Chen was in charge of financing, forecasting, budgeting, accounting, internal control and investor relationship for the company. She successfully helped the company with a $55 million financing in 2009 and 2010. Prior to that, Ms. Chen was an Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP from 2006 to 2007 and the Senior Accounting Manager at Simon & Edward LLP from 2000 to 2005. Ms. Chen received a Master of Business Administration from California State University, Los Angeles, finished the Master of Business and Taxation Program in University of Southern California and received a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics specializing in Finance from Renmin University of China. Ms. Chen is an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in California. Ms. Chen has worked closely with public companies in both U.S. and China. She is also experienced in providing consulting services to Financial Institutions, U.S. listing companies and subsidiaries of foreign public companies on a variety of matters, including finance and international trade, banking and finance, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence and taxation. In addition, Ms. Chen is fluent in both English and Chinese, and is familiar with both culture and business environment in U.S. and China. Ms. Chen also serves as the Young Member of All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and as the Vice Chairman of Chinese American Federation in the U.S.

Fei Gao, is the son of Jianmin (“Jack”) Gao, is a co-founder and our Chief Operating Officer, a position he has held since December 2014. In 2008, Mr. Gao joined his father, Jianmin Gao, in the development of the China-based e-commerce platform owned by CCG. He received a Master’s degree in business administration from Tsinghua University in 2007 and experience in managing and developing e-commerce business.

Dong Yao, Concurrent to his position with the Company, Mr. Yao is also the Chief Technology Officer of our holding company, CCG, a position he has held since January 2013. Mr. Yao has been the general technology manager in Arki Network since 2008. Before that, he was the technology manager in Tianjin Dianji Technology Internet Co., Ltd. from 2004 to 2008. He received a diploma in computer science from Tianjin Polytechnic University in 2000.

Term of Office

Our directors are appointed for a one-year term to hold office until the next annual general meeting of our shareholders or until removed from office in accordance with our bylaws. Our officers are appointed by our board of directors and hold office until removed by the board.

Family Relationships

Mr. Jianmin Gao and Mr. Fei Gao are father and son.

Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings

To the best of our knowledge, none of our directors or executive officers has, during the past ten years:

Except as set forth in our discussion below in “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions,” none of our directors or executive officers has been involved in any transactions with us or any of our directors, executive officers, affiliates or associates which are required to be disclosed pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Commission.

Code of Ethics

We current do not have a code of business conduct and ethics applicable to our directors, officers and employees, however, we intend to adopt one in the near future in connection with our application to list on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

Corporate Governance

The business and affairs of the company are managed under the direction of our board. In addition to the contact information in this annual report, each stockholder will be given specific information on how he/she can direct communications to the officers and directors of the corporation at our annual stockholder meetings. All communications from stockholders are relayed to the members of the board of directors.

Board Committees

We presently do not have an audit committee, compensation committee or nominating committee or committee performing similar functions, as our management believes that until this point it has been premature at the early stage of our management and business development to form an audit, compensation or nominating committee. Until these committees are established, these decisions will continue to be made by our Board of Directors. The Company intends to create committees which are compliant with the rules of NASDAQ in connection with its application to the NASDAQ Capital Market.

Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight

Our Board is primarily responsible for overseeing our risk management processes. The Board receives and reviews periodic reports from management, auditors, legal counsel, and others, as considered appropriate regarding our company’s assessment of risks. The Board focuses on the most significant risks facing our company and our company’s general risk management strategy, and also ensures that risks undertaken by our company are consistent with the Board’s appetite for risk. While the Board oversees our company’s risk management, management is responsible for day-to-day risk management processes. We believe this division of responsibilities is the most effective approach for addressing the risks facing our company and that our Board leadership structure supports this approach.

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors, officers and persons who beneficially own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities, to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC and are required to furnish us with copies of these reports. Based solely on our review of the reports filed with the SEC, we believe that our CEO Jianming Gao, COO Fei Gao and CTO Dong Yao have not filed reports required under the Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act.

The Summary Compensation Table below sets forth information regarding the compensation awarded to or earned by the company’s executive officers for our fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017:

Employment Agreements

The Company has executive agreements with Crystal L. Chen, Fei Gao and Dong Yao.

Crystal L. Chen

We entered into an employment agreement with our Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Crystal L. Chen, effective as of August 1, 2017 and running through August 1, 2020, with an annual salary of $36,000 plus 32,800 shares of the Company’s common stock per year.

Fei Gao

We entered into an employment agreement with our Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Fei Gao, effective as of December 15, 2014 and running through December 15, 2020, with an annual salary of $30,000.

Dong Yao

We entered into an employment agreement with our Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Dong Yao, effective as of January 5, 2013 and running through November 5, 2020, with an annual salary of RMB 120,000 (approximately $19,200).

Option Exercises and Fiscal Year-End Option Value Table

There were no stock options issued or exercised for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 by the executive officers.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End Table

We had no outstanding equity awards as of the end of fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Long-Term Incentive Plans and Awards

There were no awards made to a named executive officer in fiscal 2018 and 2017 under any long-term incentive plan.

Termination of Employment, Change-in-Control Arrangements

Jianmin Gao tendered his resignation as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer on August 3, 2017. Crystal L. Chen was subsequently appointed as the CFO of the Company on August 3, 2017. As we do not have an employment agreement with our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, any payments or benefits that would be made to him are subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors. Our employment agreements with Messrs. Fei Gao and Dong Yao, and Ms. Crystal L. Chen, do not provide for any material post-termination benefits or payments.

Director Compensation Table

Directors are permitted to receive fixed fees and other compensation for their services as directors. The Board of Directors has the authority to fix the compensation of directors. For the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company did not pay any additional compensation to the members of its Board of Directors for service on the Board.

The following table sets forth certain information regarding our shares of common stock beneficially owned as of December 31, 2018 for (i) each stockholder known to be the beneficial owner of 5% or more of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock, (ii) each named executive officer and director, and (iii) all executive officers and directors as a group. A person is considered to beneficially own any shares: (i) over which such person, directly or indirectly, exercises sole or shared voting or investment power, or (ii) of which such person has the right to acquire beneficial ownership at any time within 60 days through an exercise of stock options or warrants. Unless otherwise indicated, voting and investment power relating to the shares shown in the table for our directors and executive officers is exercised solely by the beneficial owner or shared by the owner and the owner’s spouse or children.

For purposes of this table, a person or group of persons is deemed to have “beneficial ownership” of any shares of common stock that such person has the right to acquire within 60 days of December 31, 2018. For purposes of computing the percentage of outstanding shares of our common stock held by each person or group of persons named above, any shares that such person or persons has the right to acquire within 60 days of December 31, 2018 is deemed to be outstanding, but is not deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person. The inclusion herein of any shares listed as beneficially owned does not constitute an admission of beneficial ownership. Unless otherwise specified, the address of each of the persons set forth below is in care of the Company, at the address of: 1125 Route 9W S., Nyack, NY 10960.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

We do not have in effect any compensation plans under which our equity securities are authorized for issuance.

Transactions with Related Persons

As of December 31, 2018, the Company was owed an aggregate of $183,700 from related parties. These amounts were incurred by the Company in connection with advances of funds by the above-listed related parties, as requested by the Company. These amounts are without interest and due on demand.

The loan receivable from related parties are loan balances that two companies (customers) owed to Arki Capital through UnionPay. Since the shareholders of the two companies are also small shareholders of the Company, we regard them as related parties. Interest income derived from the loans receivable from related parties were $693,307 and $48,388 for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Fee income derived from the loans receivable from related parties were $346,654 and $0 for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The loan payable to related parties represents the loan balances of Bangnitou as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. We regard the parties that own shares of the Company’s common stock as related parties. Interest expenses incurred on the loans payable to related parties were $2,482,626 and $1,100,486 for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

The commission income represents the 25% of the selling price of antiques and paintings sold by Arki Tianjin E-Commerce. We regard the sales to the shareholders of the Company as related party transactions.

The consulting fees are paid to companies that design and maintain websites for our business. Since the shareholders of the companies are also employees of our Company, we regard them as related parties.

Director Independence

We currently do not have any independent directors but expect to fully comply with the independence rules of NASDAQ in connection with its application to the NASDAQ Capital Market. NASDAQ Listing Rule 5605(a)(2) provides that an “independent director” is a person other than an officer or employee of the Company or any other individual having a relationship which, in the opinion of the Company’s Board of Directors, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. The NASDAQ listing rules provide that a director cannot be considered independent if:

Audit Fees

For the Company’s fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, we incurred fees of $105,000 and $73,000, respectively, by Centurion ZD CPA Limited for professional services rendered for the audit and reviews of our financial statements.

In addition, for the year ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we incurred fees of $0 and $221,000 by Wei Wei & Co., LLP for the quarterly review, the acquisition of Shenzhou Rongtong etc. 

Audit Related Fees

The Company did not incur any amounts in addition to the fees discussed in Audit Fees above, for services related to our audit for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Tax Fees

For the Company’s years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we were not billed for professional services rendered for tax compliance, tax advice, and tax planning.

All Other Fees

The Company did not incur any other fees related to services rendered by our principal accountant for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017.

Pre-Approval of Services

We do not have an audit committee. As a result, our Board of Directors performs the duties of an audit committee. Our Board of Directors evaluates and approves in advance the scope and cost of the engagement of an auditor before the auditor renders the audit and non-audit services. We do not rely on pre-approval policies and procedures.

PART IV

The audited balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2018, the related statements of operations and comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for the year then ended, the footnotes thereto, and the report of Centurion ZD CPA Limited, independent auditors, are filed herewith.

None. Financial statement schedules have been omitted because they are either not applicable or the required information is included in the financial statements or notes hereto.

The exhibits listed in the accompanying index to exhibits are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this Report.

The exhibits designated with an asterisk (*) are filed herewith and the exhibits designated with the # symbol are furnished herewith. All other exhibits have been previously filed with the Commission and pursuant to 17 C.F.R. ss. 230.411, are incorporated by reference to the document referenced in brackets following the descriptions of such exhibits. A management contract or compensation plan or arrangement is indicated with (§§).

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.