new SEC Filing yesterday .....
As required by SEC Rule 13a-15(b), we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on the foregoing, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.
Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the Company. Management evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control of financial reporting as of December 31, 2009 based upon the control criteria established in a report entitled Internal Control-Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our initial Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and subsequent quarterly reports on form 10Q for quarters ended March 31, 2009, June, 30, 2009 and September 30, 2009, or the earlier filings, filed with the Commission we disclosed material weaknesses related to inadequate financial statement close process, lack of financial expertise and accounting staff, lack of supporting documentation and schedules, inadequate journal entry review process, and inadequate approval and documentation for equity grants.
Remediation of Material Weaknesses
The material weaknesses that were noted in our earlier filings have ALL been remediated as of December 31, 2009. This was accomplished by devoting substantial time and resources to the completion of the required assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting as well as the subsequent remediation of the material weaknesses that were identified as a result of that assessment. Our efforts involved management, outside consultants and our audit committee, which approved and provided oversight in the execution of the assessment. We intend to allocate a sufficient level of resources to ensure that our internal control structure is maintained and functions properly and effectively.
In light of these material weaknesses disclosed in our earlier filings, our management performed additional analytics, validation processes and engaged services of a third party financial consulting firm to assist management in the preparation of our financial statements which we believe are in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and the rules and regulations of the Commission. Management believes that given the remediation efforts performed in 2009 and our evaluation under the framework in Internal Control-Integrated Framework, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2009.
