CFO of Finnish engineering group Valmet to step down

April 11 (Reuters) - Finnish engineering group Valmet said Chief Financial Officer Kari Saarinen has decided to resign because of trades in shares in valve maker Neles, which Valmet has taken over.

Valmet said in a statement Saarinen's decision to leave his job was "due to his share trades in Neles during the merger process and to minimise the negative impacts of this on Valmet's reputation."

"All executive team members should have used good judgment and refrained from trading in shares while merger discussions and preparations were ongoing," Valmet said.

Last week, Saarinen told Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat he had bought shares in Neles on February 3, a day before the company reported its fourth quarter results.

Valmet announced its Neles merger plan in July 2021 and completed the takeover on April 1.

(Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki. Editing by Jane Merriman)