Form 8-K - Current report

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 22, 2024

BIO-key International, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware

(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)

1-13463

(Commission File Number)

41-1741861

(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

101 Crawfords Corner Road

Suite 4116

Holmdel, NJ 07733

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

(732) 359-1100

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

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

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock	BKYI	Nasdaq Capital Market

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR §230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2).

Emerging growth company ☐

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. ☐

Item 3.01.

Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard; Transfer of Listing.

On May 22, 2024, BIO-key International, Inc. (the “Company”) received notice from The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (“Nasdaq”) indicating that the Company was not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) (the “Listing Rule”), which requires listed companies to timely file all required periodic financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), due to the Company’s failure to timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2024 (the “Form 10-Q”). As previously reported, on April 17, 2024 the Company was notified by Nasdaq that is was not in compliance with the Listing Rule due to the Company’s failure to timely file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 (the “Form 10-K”). The notification letter has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

The Company filed a Notification of Late Filing on Form 12b-25 on May 16, 2024, indicating that the filing of the Form 10-Q would be delayed because it was unable to timely file the Form 10-Q without unreasonable effort and expense. As previously announced, the Company is in the process of restating its consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2023, the three and six months ended June 30, 2023, and the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 which has delayed the compilation, presentation and review of certain financial and other disclosures required to be included in the Form 10-Q.

The notification letter stated that, under Nasdaq rules, the Company has until June 17, 2024 to submit a plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements. If the plan is accepted, Nasdaq may grant an extension of up to 180 calendar days from the due date of the Form 10-K, or until October 14, 2024, to regain compliance. The Company intends to file the Form 10-Q and the Form 10-K with the SEC as soon as practicable and regain compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements.

Item 7.01.

Regulation FD Disclosure.

On April 22, 2024, the Company issued a press release regarding the matters described in Item 3.01 of this Form 8-K. A copy of the press release is attached to this Form 8-K as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.

In accordance with General Instruction B.2 of Form 8-K, the information furnished under this Item 7.01, including Exhibit 99.1, shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain information contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K (“Form 8-K”) may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements contained in this Form 8-K other than statements of historical facts are "forward-looking statements" The words "estimate," "project," "intends," "expects," "anticipates," "believes" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Act. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those included within or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, our history of losses and limited revenue; our ability to raise additional capital; our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to protect our intellectual property; changes in business conditions; changes in our sales strategy and product development plans; changes in the marketplace; continued services of our executive management team; security breaches; competition in the biometric technology industry; market acceptance of biometric products generally and our products under development; our ability to convert sales opportunities to customer contracts; our ability to expand into Asia, Africa and other foreign markets; our ability to integrate the operations and personnel of Swivel Secure into our business; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the duration and extent of continued hostilities in Ukraine and its impact on our European customers; delays in the development of products, the nature and estimated amount of adjustments to our previously issued financial statements covering the quarterly periods in 2023, as well as the nature and estimated adjustments that may be required from our preliminary estimates of results for 2023 and first quarter of 2024, as the final adjustments may vary from the amounts estimated in our prior SEC Reports, which variance may be material; the commercial, reputational and regulatory risks to our business that may arise as a consequence of our need to restate our financial statements, including any consequences of non-compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Nasdaq periodic reporting requirements; our temporary loss of the use of a Registration Statement on Form S-3 to register securities in the future; any disruption to our business that may occur on a longer-term basis should we be unable to remediate during fiscal year 2024 certain material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, and statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing as well as other factors set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and other filings with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Item 9.01

Financial Statements and Exhibits.

99.1	Press Release dated May 24, 2024 (furnished herewith)

104	Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded with the Inline XBRL document)

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	BIO-KEY INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Date: May 24, 2024
	By:	/s/ Cecilia C. Welch
		Cecilia C. Welch Chief Financial Officer

Exhibit 99.1

BIO-key International, Inc. Receives Notice of Non-Compliance from Nasdaq

Wall, NJ – May 24, 2024 – BIO-key International, Inc. (Nasdaq: BKYI), an innovative provider of workforce and customer identity and access management (IAM) solutions featuring Identity-Bound Biometrics (IBB), announced today that on May 22, 2024, it received a letter (the “Notification Letter”) from The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (“Nasdaq”) informing the Company that it was not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1), which requires listed companies to timely file all required periodic financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), due to the Company’s failure to timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 (the “Form 10-Q”). The Notification Letter has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

The Notification Letter stated that the Company remains delinquent in filing its Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2023 (the “Form 10-K”) and has until June 17, 2024 to submit a plan to regain compliance with respect to these delinquent reports. If the plan is accepted, Nasdaq may grant an extension of up to 180 calendar days from the filing due date of the 10-K, or until October 14, 2024, to regain compliance. The Company intends to file the Form 10-Q and the Form 10-K with the SEC as soon as practicable and regain compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements.

About BIO-key International, Inc. (www.BIO-key.com)

BIO-key is revolutionizing authentication and cybersecurity with biometric-centric, multi-factor identity and access management (IAM) software securing access for over forty million users. BIO-key allows customers to choose the right authentication factors for diverse use cases, including phoneless, tokenless, and passwordless biometric options. Its hosted or on-premise PortalGuard IAM solution provides cost-effective, easy-to-deploy, convenient, and secure access to computers, information, applications, and high-value transactions.

BIO-key Safe Harbor Statement

All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical facts are “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). The words “estimate,” “project,” “intends,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are made based on management’s beliefs, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management pursuant to the “safe-harbor” provisions of the Act. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those included within or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, our history of losses and limited revenue; our ability to raise additional capital; our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to protect our intellectual property; changes in business conditions; changes in our sales strategy and product development plans; changes in the marketplace; continued services of our executive management team; security breaches; competition in the biometric technology industry; market acceptance of biometric products generally and our products under development; our ability to convert sales opportunities to customer contracts; our ability to expand into Asia, Africa and other foreign markets; our ability to integrate the operations and personnel of Swivel Secure into our business; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the duration and extent of continued hostilities in Ukraine and its impact on our European customers; delays in the development of products, the nature and estimated amount of adjustments to our previously issued financial statements covering the quarterly periods in 2023, as well as the nature and estimated adjustments that may be required from our preliminary estimates of results for 2023 and first quarter of 2024, as the final adjustments may vary from the amounts estimated in our prior SEC Reports, which variance may be material; the commercial, reputational and regulatory risks to our business that may arise as a consequence of our need to restate our financial statements, including any consequences of non-compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Nasdaq periodic reporting requirements; our temporary loss of the use of a Registration Statement on Form S-3 to register securities in the future; any disruption to our business that may occur on a longer-term basis should we be unable to remediate during fiscal year 2024 certain material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting, and statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing as well as other factors set forth under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and other filings with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to disclose any revision to these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Engage with BIO-key:
Facebook – Corporate:	https://www.facebook.com/BIOkeyInternational/
LinkedIn – Corporate:	https://www.linkedin.com/company/bio-key-international
Twitter – Corporate:	@BIOkeyIntl
Twitter – Investors:	@BIO_keyIR
StockTwits:	BIO_keyIR

Investor Contacts:

William Jones, David Collins

Catalyst IR

BKYI@catalyst-ir.com

212-924-9800

Document And Entity Information	May 22, 2024
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity, Registrant Name	BIO-key International, Inc.
Document, Type	8-K
Document, Period End Date	May 22, 2024
Entity, Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity, File Number	1-13463
Entity, Tax Identification Number	41-1741861
Entity, Address, Address Line One	101 Crawfords Corner Road
Entity, Address, Address Line Two	Suite 4116
Entity, Address, City or Town	Holmdel
Entity, Address, State or Province	NJ
Entity, Address, Postal Zip Code	07733
City Area Code	732
Local Phone Number	359-1100
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock
Trading Symbol	BKYI
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
Entity, Emerging Growth Company	false
Amendment Flag	false
Entity, Central Index Key	0001019034