The Ontario Securities Commission will not pursue criminal charges against former investment banker Andrew Rankin.

Rankin and the OSC agreed on a settlement today, in the case that was set to go to trial next week.

The settlement imposes a lifetime ban from the securities business on Rankin, and requires him to pay $250,000 toward costs incurred in the investigation.

As well, Rankin is barred from trading in any securities for 10 years (with minor exceptions) and is prohibited from being a director or officer of a public company.

James Turner, the panel’s vice-chair, said the panel considered the case “egregious” and that “very serious market misconduct” had taken place over a number of years. He also emphasized that there was “no evidence that Rankin committed any illegal trading.”

Rankin is a former managing partner at RBC Dominion Securities, who was convicted in a high-profile trial in 2005 of 10 counts of tipping a friend, Daniel Duic, about pending takeover deals between 1999 and 2001. The conviction was overturned on appeal in November 2006 and a new trial was ordered.

In the appeal decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer said a lower court judge failed to take into account inconsistencies in the testimony of Duic, the prosecution’s key witness.

Rankin’s father and sister attended today’s hearing. They all left immediately after the hearing concluded and Rankin did not comment to reporters.

The two parties agreed in the settlement that Rankin allowed his childhood friend Duic to acquire confidential information from his home office and through conversations. “Andrew became careless and he gave unsupervised access to his house to Mr. Duic.” Rankin’s lawyer, David Humphrey told reporters. “The allegations originally made by Mr. Duic are rejected completely by Mr. Rankin,” Humphrey added. “He denies them today as he has always denied them.”

Nordheimer’s comments during the appeal are one of the reasons the settlement was considered, according to OSC lawyers. “One of the things that has to be taken into account is what the appeal courts say,” said Doug Hunt, the OSC’s outside counsel for the retrial. “In this case Justice Nordheimer made a number of comments relating to the evidence that I’d conclude would make the prospects of a successful retrial a serious challenge.”

Humphrey said the two parties have been working out the details of the settlement for “months.”

OSC lawyer Kelly McKinnon said the OSC is satisfied that regulatory requirements have been met. She said the terms of the settlement represent “the highest sanctions available to the commission” and “adequately send the message that misuse of confidential information is going to be seriously treated.”

Dan Duic made approximately $4.5 million over a 14-month period through illegal insider trading based on the confidential information obtained from Rankin.

Rankin currently lives in Woodland Hills, Calif., and is starting a new career in private business, according to his lawyer.