RBC Dominion Securities Andrew Rankin found Guilty

Justice Ramez Khawley found RBC Dominion Securities executive Andrew Rankin guilty on ten counts of tipping. It is not unusual for the investment industry to disregard the rules and use our legal system to frustrate the regulators and try to escape justice.

However Justice Khawley's decision points up the deterioration of morality and ethics in our society that is creating an untenable situation for investors. Justice Khawley states that executives from RBC's investment banking arm are not very credible.

When our investment industry will not tell the truth to a judge in court, how can investors think that the investment advisors will tell them the truth. Almost every day we hear of situations where financial advisors, auditors and corporate executives are making misstatements, or if they are in court have selectively lost their memory of certain events.

How does RBC react to this? Moorcroft, a spokesman for RBC, said Justice Khawley's comments about DS witnesses is a "side issue" and "the credibility of individual witnesses are not on trial here". The industry apparently condones, if not demands, this behaviour.

Well, it's time that the credibility of the investment industry is put on trial.

Meanwhile, all investors should realize that with the lack of investor protection, the lack of enforcement, and the failure of the SROs to regulate their members, Canadian investors are in an INVESTOR BEWARE situation.

Investors must make themselves aware of how the industry operates with a cavalier attitude towards investors savings, and a callous attitude towards small investors. The industry is willing to engage in practices that will result in the decimation of life savings and disregard the needs of their clients. They will inappropriately place seniors and widows at risk that often results in the loss of their life savings, and then show no mercy and use the legal system to aggressively defend situations that appear indefensible.

Justice Kawley's remarks confirm that the industry will not only breach the rules in victimizing clients, but will also lie to circumvent the law.

INVESTOR BEWARE!