Although the SEC has used the Fair Fund provision to collect money $4.8 billion from 73 cases, so far investors have seen only a trickle.
Since the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley in 2002 through April of this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission had collected more than $4.8 billion in disgorgement and civil monetary penalties under the Sarbanes-Oxley "Fair Fund" provision, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. But distributing that money to harmed investors has proceeded slowly, added the GAO.
To be sure, the congressional watchdog's report noted that the commission has been diligent in its attempts to apply the Fair Fund provision when possible. For example, a settlement that includes a disgorgement of just $1 can qualify a much larger monetary penalty for distribution to investors — as it did in the SEC's $25 million settlement with Lucent last year.
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