Civil penalties are calculated under statutory factors, frequently structured by published agency methodologies.
Common statutory factors. The gravity of the violation; the degree of culpability; the violator’s history of prior violations; the economic benefit derived; the ability to pay and the effect on continued operations; efforts to comply and to remediate; cooperation; and the deterrent effect required.
Economic benefit is calculated as the delayed and avoided cost of compliance, plus profit attributable to non-compliance, and is treated as a floor in several programmes on the principle that compliance must not be cheaper than violation.
Gravity by the number of violations, their duration, the harm and the regulatory significance of the requirement.
Per-day and per-violation counting drives the arithmetic more than any other factor, and contesting the count is often more productive than contesting the multiplier.
Mitigation arguments. Self-identification, prompt disclosure, remediation completed, controls implemented and tested, discipline imposed, absence of harm, and ability to pay supported by financial statements.
Ability to pay requires actual financial evidence and typically a willingness to open the books.
Payment terms and settlement structures including compliance undertakings and, in some programmes, supplemental projects that reduce the penalty.