(a) Any accountant, engineer, appraiser, or other person whose profession gives authority to a statement made by such person, who pursuant to rule of the commissioner has given written consent to be and has been named in any prospectus or offering circular distributed in connection with the offer or sale of securities as having prepared or certified in such capacity either any part of such document or any written report or valuation which is distributed with or referred to in any such document is jointly and severally liable with any other person liable under Section 25501 if:
(1) The part of such document so prepared or certified or the report or valuation so distributed or referred to includes an untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; and
(2) The person asserting such liability acquired a security described in such document in reliance on such untrue statement or in reliance on such part of the document or on such report or valuation without notice of such omission.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a), no such accountant, engineer, appraiser, or other person shall be liable as provided therein if such person sustains the burden of proof that:
(1) Such person had, after reasonable investigation, reasonable ground to believe and did believe, at the time such person consented to such use of such person’s name, that the statements so included in such part of such document or in such report or valuation were true and that there was no omission to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or
(2) Such part of such document did not fairly represent such person’s statement as an expert or was not a fair copy of or extract from such person’s report or valuation as an expert; or
(3) Prior to the acquisition of the security by the person asserting the liability, such accountant, engineer, appraiser, or other person advised the issuer and the commissioner in writing that such person would not be responsible for such part of the document or the report or valuation.
(c) A person who participates in the preparation of a document described in subdivision (a) of this section shall be deemed to have prepared or certified only those portions thereof which are expressly stated with such person’s written consent to have been made on such person’s authority.
(Amended by Stats. 1978, Ch. 663.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018