American Realty Capital Properties Inc said on Wednesday it replaced its chief financial and chief accounting officers after its audit committee discovered "intentional" accounting errors.

The errors overstated the firm's operating revenue in the first quarter and understated its net loss in the first half of the year, the company said in a filing with U.S. regulators.

The REIT's audit committee, which conducted the investigation, also said its 2013 annual report "should no longer be relied upon."

Shares of American Realty Capital, fell as much as 37 percent after the announcement, wiping out about $4 billion of value. The company markets itself as "the largest publicly traded net lease REIT," which means tenants in properties it own pay operating expenses directly.

Shares recovered some ground after American Realty Capital Chief Executive Officer David Kay said on a conference call on Wednesday afternoon that the errors - which executives learned about last Friday night from audit committee investigators - were not meant to mislead and that the firm might sell assets to repurchase shares if they remain depressed.

The financial executives who made a mistake in the first quarter and covered it up in the second "are not bad people," Kay added. The events will not affect the company's bank agreements, but American Realty Capital is in discussions with rating agencies, he said.

At the end of the trading day, the company's shares were down $2.38, or 19.2 percent, at $12.38.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which routinely investigates companies that restate financial statements, will look into its accounting, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday afternoon. An SEC spokesman declined comment.

American Realty Capital's troubles also affected shares of RCS Capital Corp, an investment firm that in the past two years has purchased Cetera Financial and a handful of other independent brokerage firms that sell REITs and other investments to "mass affluent" retail investors.

Nicholas Schorsch, American Realty Capital's chairman and former chief executive, is also executive chairman of the board of RCS.

Shares of RCS Capital closed down 14.0 percent to $16.99.

A spokesman for RCS Capital said it and American Realty Capital are "unrelated entities" with different audit committees, management and boards.

Schorsch also owns AR Capital, which sponsors and advises private real estate investment trusts, lease programs and other nontraditional investments sold through independent brokerage firms.

Michael Weil, RCS Capital's cofounder and president, previously served as president of American Realty Capital Properties, according to RCS's website. Peter Budko, another RCS Capital founding partner, was once chief investment officer of the REIT.

American Realty Capital said in its regulatory filing that Chief Financial Officer Brian Block and Chief Accounting Officer Lisa McAlister resigned on Tuesday and were replaced respectively by Michael Sodo and Gavin Brandon.

Brandon, 38, joined earlier this year from Cole Real Estate Investments, a money manager that RCS Capital is buying from American Realty Capital for at least $700 million.

American Realty Capital said it did not expect the accounting errors from this year's first two quarters to impact any previously announced transactions. It also said adjustments of the errors will reduce its funds from operations for the six months ended June 30 by 4 cents to 45 cents per share.

Within hours of the filing, several law firms that specialize in class-action suits solicited investors in American Realty Capital to contact them.

Several brokerage firms also cut their ratings and price targets on the company's stock.