$15.5m sounds like a lot of money but if they made $15.5 billion then it is such a small fraction that there is little pain, and no deterrent effect. Small fractions of the overall profits are considered ‘the cost of doing business’.

Reminds me of a story about the mugger who steals a couples money but after hearing their lamentations about how they won’t be able to get home gives them back enough cash for cab fare. The couple then talk effusively about how the mugger ‘was so nice’. Shake people down and abuse them. Then toss them the crumbs and watch as your portrayed as ‘one of the good guys’.

It is also interesting that in many cases such settlements, typically without any admission of guilt or criminal liability, are tax deductible. Such deductions are often why many major corporations pay little tax.