Though a recent Reuters study found that the SEC has levied more than $500 million in fines this year, the data might not be as frightening for public companies as it sounds.

According to Kevin Drawbaugh, who conducted the survey, the bulk of the fines came from the mutual fund timing and research analyst settlements.

So while many public companies—like Lucent and Dollar General—were included in the list, most were dwarfed by payments at Bear Stearns, Bank of America and others.

In addition, though larger fines are being imposed, Drawbaugh noted the fees can represent only "petty cash" to many of the companies; of last year's 20 biggest corporate settlements, half of them represented 2 percent or less of the defendant's profits.

Goldschmid

Worse than the fines may be the lawsuits that result from settlements—just look at the litigation item on Bally, below, for an example.

In addition, the SEC is barring more individuals from serving as officers or directors of public companies. SEC Commissioner Harvey Goldschmid told Reuters, "We're much tougher than we've ever been in terms of penalties, officer and director bars and other sanctions."

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