Written Consents
230.436 — Consents required in special cases.
(a) If any portion of the report or opinion of an expert or counsel is quoted or summarized as such in the registration statement or in a prospectus, the written consent of the expert or counsel shall be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement and shall expressly state that the expert or counsel consents to such quotation or summarization.
(b) If it is stated that any information contained in the registration statement has been reviewed or passed upon by any persons and that such information is set forth in the registration statement upon the authority of or in reliance upon such persons as experts, the written consents of such persons shall be filed as exhibits to the registration statement.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (b) of this section, a report on unaudited interim financial information (as defined in paragraph (d) of this section) by an independent accountant who has conducted a review of such interim financial information shall not be considered a part of a registration statement prepared or certified by an accountant or a report prepared or certified by an accountant within the meaning of sections 7 and 11 of the Act.
(d) The term report on unaudited interim financial information shall mean a report which consists of the following:
(1) A statement that the review of interim financial information was made in accordance with established professional standards for such reviews;
(2) An identification of the interim financial information reviewed;
(3) A description of the procedures for a review of interim financial information;
(4) A statement that a review of interim financial information is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the objective of which is an expression of an opinion regarding the financial statements taken as a whole, and, accordingly, no such opinion is expressed; and
(5) A statement about whether the accountant is aware of any material modifications that should be made to the accompanying financial information so that it conforms with generally accepted accounting principles.
(e) Where a counsel is named as having acted for the underwriters or selling security holders, no consent will be required by reason of his being named as having acted in such capacity.
(f) Where the opinion of one counsel relies upon the opinion of another counsel, the consent of the counsel whose prepared opinion is relied upon need not be furnished.
(g)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, the security rating assigned to a class of debt securities, a class of convertible debt securities, or a class of preferred stock by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization, or with respect to registration statements on Form F-9 (§ 239.39 of this chapter) by any other rating organization specified in the Instruction to paragraph (a)(2) of General Instruction I of Form F-9, shall not be considered a part of the registration statement prepared or certified by a person within the meaning of sections 7 and 11 of the Act.
(2) For the purpose of paragraph (g)(1) of this section, the term nationally recognized statistical rating organization shall have the same meaning as used in Rule 15c3-1(c)(2)(vi)(F) (17 CFR 240.15c3-1 (c)(2)(vi)(F)).
Amendments
(h) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, any description about matters identified by a qualified person pursuant to § 229.1302(f) of this chapter shall not be considered a part of the registration statement prepared or certified by the qualified person within the meaning of Sections 7 and 11 of the Securities Act.
End of Amendments
[47 FR 11441, Mar. 16, 1982, as amended at 58 FR 62030, Nov. 23, 1993; 76 FR 71876, Nov. 21, 2011; 83 FR 50148, Oct. 4, 2018; 83 FR 66344, Dec. 26, 2018]
230.437 — Application to dispense with consent.
An application to the Commission to dispense with any written consent of an expert pursuant to section 7 of the act shall be made by the registrant and shall be supported by an affidavit or affidavits establishing that the obtaining of such consent is impracticable or involves undue hardship on the registrant. Such application shall be filed and the consent of the Commission shall be obtained prior to the effective date of the registration statement.
[Reg. C, 12 FR 4074, June 24, 1947]
230.437a — Written consents.
(a) This section applies only to registrants that:
(1) Are not a “blank check company” as defined in § 230.419(a)(2); and
(2) Are filing a registration statement containing financial statements in which Arthur Andersen LLP (or a foreign affiliate of Arthur Andersen LLP) had been acting as the independent public accountant.
(b) Notwithstanding any other Commission rule or regulation, every registrant eligible to rely on this section may dispense with the requirement for the registrant to file the written consent of Arthur Andersen LLP (or a foreign affiliate of Arthur Andersen LLP) as required by Section 7 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 77g) where:
(1) The registrant has not already obtained the written consent that would be required if not for this section;
(2) The registrant is not able to obtain the written consent after reasonable efforts; and
(3) The registrant discloses clearly any limitations on recovery by investors posed by the lack of consent.
[67 FR 13537, Mar. 22, 2002]
230.438 — Consents of persons about to become directors.
If any person who has not signed the registration statement is named therein as about to become a director, the written consent of such person shall be filed with the registration statement. Any such consent, however, may be omitted if there is filed with the registration statement a statement by the registrant, supported by an affidavit or affidavits, setting forth the reasons for such omission and establishing that the obtaining of such consent is impracticable or involves undue hardship on the registrant.
[Reg. C, 12 FR 4074, June 24, 1947]
230.439 — Consent to use of material incorporated by reference.
(a) If the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission require the filing of a written consent to the use of any material in connection with the registration statement, such consent shall be filed as an exhibit to the registration statement even though the material is incorporated therein by reference. Where the filing of a written consent is required with respect to material incorporated in the registration statement by reference, which is to be filed subsequent to the effective date of the registration statement, such consent shall be filed as an amendment to the registration statement no later than the date on which such material is filed with the Commission, unless express consent to incorporation by reference is contained in the material to be incorporated by reference.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this section, any required consent may be incorporated by reference into a registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) (§ 230.462(b)) or a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(e) (§ 230.462(e)) from a previously filed registration statement relating to that offering, provided that the consent contained in the previously filed registration statement expressly provides for such incorporation.
[47 FR 11441, Mar. 16, 1982, as amended at 60 FR 26615, 26617, May 17, 1995; 70 FR 44818, Aug. 3, 2005]