Former RBC Dominion Securities investment banker Andrew Rankin was found guilty in Ontario provincial court of 10 counts of tipping a friend, Daniel Duic, about pending corporate deals. Duic used the tips to make a net profit of over $4.5 million in stock trades in a 12-month period. Insider-trading charges against Duic were dropped in return for his testimony against Rankin and the payment of a $1.9 million fine. Rankin was acquitted of 10 counts of the more serious offence of insider trading because he was apparently not aware of his friend’s deals and he did not directly profit from them. Rankin was sentenced to six months in jail. Rankin’s conviction, however, was overturned because of contradictory evidence (inconsistencies in Duic’s evidence) and errors by the trial judge. Before a new criminal trial was to begin, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) agreed to withdraw criminal charges in return for an admission by Rankin that he engaged in illegal tipping. Rankin also agreed to a payment of $250 000 toward OSC’s investigation costs, a lifetime ban from working in the securities industry or serving as a director or officer of a public company, and a 10-year ban on trading in securities in Ontario. What are the problems with insider trading? Why is it difficult to secure a conviction for improper insider trading? Do Rankin’s penalties fit the “crime”? Why or why not?