SEC Comment Letter for BERKSHIRE BANCORP — Sep 29, 2005
BERKSHIRE BANCORP INC /DE/ (CIK 0000759718)
Date: Sept. 29, 2005 · CIK: 0000759718 · Accession: 0000000000-05-050462
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
Referenced dates: August 25, 2005, September 16, 2005
Letter
VIA FACSIMILE AND U.S. MAIL September 28, Steven Rosenberg Chief Financial Officer Berkshire Bancorp, Inc. 160 Broadway New York, New York 10038
RE: Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004 Form 10-Q for Fiscal Quarter Ended June 30, 2005 File No. 0-13649
Dear Mr. Rosenberg:
We have reviewed your letter dated September 16, 2005 and have the following comment. Where indicated, we think you should revise your disclosures in response to this comment. If you disagree, we will consider your explanation as to why our comment is inapplicable or a revision is unnecessary. Please be as detailed as necessary in your explanation. Please understand that the purpose of our review process is to assist you in your compliance with the applicable disclosure requirements and to enhance the overall disclosure in your filing. We look forward to working with you in these respects. We welcome any questions you may have about our comment or on any other aspect of our review. Feel free to call us at the phone numbers listed below.
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, page 40
1. We have read your response to comment one from our letter dated August 25, 2005. We note the inclusion of the fourth paragraph in Grant Thornton`s audit report is due to the requirement for your bank subsidiary to obtain an audit of its or its subsidiary`s internal control over financial reporting in order to comply with FDICIA requirements, and is not referring to the fact that you have obtained an audit of your internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Item 308(a) and (b) of Regulation S-K, as this is not required by you yet. In light of the recent adoption of the 404- related rules, the lack of clear disclosure in the filing to indicate the extent of management`s assessment and related audit of internal control over financial reporting may be confusing for investors. To the extent that similar wording will be included in any future audit reports included in a filing made with the Commission, please include clarifying disclosure, preferably in Item 9A, to make this fact more clear to investors. For example, please include disclosure summarizing the nature of the work performed by management, the significance of the entity relative to the registrant as a whole (in terms of key subtotals such as total net assets, net interest income, and net income), the work performed by Grant Thornton, why the work was performed and the audit or attest standards used by the auditor to perform the audit, and a clear statement that you are not yet required to or have not yet performed an assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, or engaged the auditor to perform an audit of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.
* * * *
Please respond to this comment within 10 business days, or tell us when you will provide us with a response. Please provide us with a response letter that keys your response to our comment and provides any requested information. Detailed letters greatly facilitate our review. Please file your response on EDGAR as a correspondence file. Please understand that we may have additional comments after reviewing your responses to our comment.
If you have any questions regarding this comment, please direct them to Ernest Greene, Staff Accountant, at (202) 551-3733 or, in his absence, to the undersigned at (202) 551-3769.
Sincerely,
Rufus Decker
Accounting Branch Chief
Show Raw Text
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>LETTER
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.txt
<TEXT>
VIA FACSIMILE AND U.S. MAIL
September
28,
2005
Steven Rosenberg
Chief Financial Officer
Berkshire Bancorp, Inc.
160 Broadway
New York, New York 10038
RE: Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2004
Form 10-Q for Fiscal Quarter Ended June 30, 2005
File No. 0-13649
Dear Mr. Rosenberg:
We have reviewed your letter dated September 16, 2005 and
have
the following comment. Where indicated, we think you should
revise
your disclosures in response to this comment. If you disagree, we
will consider your explanation as to why our comment is
inapplicable
or a revision is unnecessary. Please be as detailed as necessary
in
your explanation. Please understand that the purpose of our
review
process is to assist you in your compliance with the applicable
disclosure requirements and to enhance the overall disclosure in
your
filing. We look forward to working with you in these respects.
We
welcome any questions you may have about our comment or on any
other
aspect of our review. Feel free to call us at the phone numbers
listed below.
FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2004
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, page 40
1. We have read your response to comment one from our letter dated
August 25, 2005. We note the inclusion of the fourth paragraph in
Grant Thornton`s audit report is due to the requirement for your
bank
subsidiary to obtain an audit of its or its subsidiary`s internal
control over financial reporting in order to comply with FDICIA
requirements, and is not referring to the fact that you have
obtained
an audit of your internal control over financial reporting in
accordance with Item 308(a) and (b) of Regulation S-K, as this is
not
required by you yet. In light of the recent adoption of the 404-
related rules, the lack of clear disclosure in the filing to
indicate
the extent of management`s assessment and related audit of
internal
control over financial reporting may be confusing for investors.
To
the extent that similar wording will be included in any future
audit
reports included in a filing made with the Commission, please
include
clarifying disclosure, preferably in Item 9A, to make this fact
more
clear to investors. For example, please include disclosure
summarizing the nature of the work performed by management, the
significance of the entity relative to the registrant as a whole
(in
terms of key subtotals such as total net assets, net interest
income,
and net income), the work performed by Grant Thornton, why the
work
was performed and the audit or attest standards used by the
auditor to
perform the audit, and a clear statement that you are not yet
required
to or have not yet performed an assessment of the effectiveness of
internal control over financial reporting, or engaged the auditor
to
perform an audit of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting.
* * * *
Please respond to this comment within 10 business days, or
tell
us when you will provide us with a response. Please provide us
with a
response letter that keys your response to our comment and
provides
any requested information. Detailed letters greatly facilitate
our
review. Please file your response on EDGAR as a correspondence
file.
Please understand that we may have additional comments after
reviewing
your responses to our comment.
If you have any questions regarding this comment, please
direct
them to Ernest Greene, Staff Accountant, at (202) 551-3733 or, in
his
absence, to the undersigned at (202) 551-3769.
Sincerely,
Rufus Decker
Accounting Branch Chief
??
??
??
??
Mr. Steven Rosenberg
September 28, 2005
Page 1
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549-7010
DIVISION OF
CORPORATION FINANCE
</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>