While the fund scandals may cost some fund firms a chunk of their revenues they may be paying off for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The budget delivered by President Bush Monday includes a $913 million request for the SEC. That works out to a 13 percent increase in the Commission's 2003 budget. The increase came despite the Commission's inability to spend as much as $20 million of its budget as it failed to hire lawyers and other staff as quickly as hoped.

Typically federal departments that fail to spend their entire appropriated budget see their funding trimmed the following year.

Yet, the Commission may be benefiting from the political nature of the fund scandals despite its failure to take the lead on the initial investigations.

In fact, the 2004 budget calls for an additional $18.7 million to be spent on new staff.  

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