(a) Any person other than the issuer who violates Section 25402 shall be liable to the issuer of the security purchased or sold in violation of Section 25402 for damages in an amount up to three times the difference between the price at which the security was purchased or sold and the market value which the security would have had at the time of the purchase or sale if the information known to the defendant had been publicly disseminated prior to that time and a reasonable time had elapsed for the market to absorb the information and shall be liable to the issuer of the security or to a person who institutes an action under this section in the right of the issuer of the security for reasonable costs and attorney’s fees.
(b) The amounts recoverable under this section by the issuer shall be reduced by any amount paid by the defendant in a proceeding brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to the same transaction or transactions under the federal Insider Trading Sanctions Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. Secs. 78a, 78c, 78o, 78t, 78u, and 78ff) or any other act regardless of whether the amount was paid pursuant to a judgment or settlement or paid before or after the filing of an action by the plaintiff against the defendant. If a proceeding has been commenced by the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not been finally resolved, the court shall delay entering a judgment for the plaintiff under this section until that proceeding is resolved.
(c) If any shareholder of an issuer alleges to the board that there has been a violation of this section, the board shall be required to consider the allegation in good faith, and if the allegation involves misconduct by any director, that director shall not be entitled to vote on any matter involving the allegation. However, that director may be counted in determining the presence of a quorum at a meeting of the board or a committee of the board.
(d) This section shall only apply to issuers who have total assets in excess of one million dollars ($1,000,000) and have a class of equity security held of record by 500 or more persons.
(Added by Stats. 1988, Ch. 1339, Sec. 4.)