John works in the research division of B&C Ltd, an investment bank based in Melbourne, Australia. One of the bank's clients, Raptor Ltd, is planning a takeover of Meat Packaging Ltd, an ASX listed company. The M&A division of the bank has recommended that Raptor proceed with the takeover and offer shareholders of Meat Packaging A$6 per share. Meat Packaging's share is trading between A$4.50 - A$4.75 per share. A copy of the report recommending the takeover was accidentally sent to John. A couple of days later John bought 20,000 shares in Meat Packaging for A$4.70. His decision to buy the shares was made in advance of him receiving the report and was based on his own research about the company. When news of the proposed takeover is subsequently announced, the price of Meat Packaging shares rises significantly and John makes a handsome profit selling his shares.Advise John whether he would be found liable for insider trading and the legal consequences that he could possibly face if guilty of breaching the insider trading provisions of theCorporations Act?

Kindly use the IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion) approach to answer.