Valeant directors, CEO ordered to cease trading shares

By Rod Nickel

(Reuters) - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's (VRX.TO) directors and key officers have received a cease-trade order by the securities regulator in the Canadian province of Quebec, on the company's request, Valeant said on Thursday.

In a separate statement, the Autorité Des Marches Financiers (AMF) said the order takes effect Thursday and is in place for 15 days. Included in the order are Chief Executive Mike Pearson and Chief Financial Officer Robert Rosiello.

The company is largely run out of the United States, but it is headquartered in Laval, a suburb of Montreal, Quebec. The company is also incorporated in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.

A spokesman for the British Columbia Securities Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Valeant said it asked AMF for the cease-trade order, pending the filing of its 2015 audited financial statements.

The cease-trade order technically applies only to Quebec, but the practical effect of such orders in Canada, which does not have a national securities regulator, is to stop trading across the country, said Sylvain Theberge, spokesman for AMF, in an email to Reuters.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba)