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] Sec. 230.437a Written consents.
(a) This section applies only to registrants that:
(1) Are not a ``blank check company'' as defined in Sec. 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]