NEW YORK – Newtek Business Services, Inc. said May 11 it has filed its Form 10-K annual report for the year ending Dec. 31, 2005, but a NASDAQ hearing is still scheduled for June 1 to address why the company missed the filing deadline. The small business services provider and one of CUNA's strategic partners, previously announced that due to the late filing, it had received an initial determination letter from NASDAQ that it was subject to delisting due to non-compliance with timely filing requirements. The company said it requested a hearing before a NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel to address why it missed the deadline and present a plan for filing its Form 10-Q for the quarter ending March 31, 2006. It did not expect to file that form by the May 15 deadline, Newtek said. "The company believes that it meets all other requirements for continued listing; however, there can be no assurance that the Panel will grant the Company's request for continued listing," Newtek said Newtek previously said "past level of staff support has proven inadequate to ensure timely financial reporting" and planned to address those problems by adding personnel to its accounting, finance and legal staffs. Meanwhile, on May 16, Newtek made two adjustments, one possibly aiming to help with its filing requirements. The company said it has retained accounting and consulting firm J.H. Cohn, LLP as its independent auditor for its fiscal year 2006. J.H. Cohn will review all SEC filings including the first quarter Form 10-Q. The change in auditors for 2006, "was not as a result of any disagreement over accounting principles or due to the accounting on any particular transaction," Newtek said. Its former independent registered accountants, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, have been dismissed due to costs for services going forward, according to the company.