The indirect economic penalties in SEC investigations of underwriters1Our thanks to Sanjai Bhagat, Mo Chaudhury, Andy Chen, Jay Ritter, Wayne Shaw, Cliff Smith (editor), Michael Vetsuypens, an anonymous referee, and workshop participants at Southern Methodist University and Tulane University for valuable comments. The financial support of the Cox School of Business at the Southern Methodist University and the Center for Finance and Accounting Research at UNC-Chapel Hill are gratefully acknowledged.1