The bill has finally come due for major Wall Street investment firms. After years of misleading investors with biased research and stock ratings, the giants of the industry are reportedly facing fines totaling $1 billion.

The SEC, along with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office, the New York Stock Exchange, and the National Association of Securities Dealers, are in the process of informing each firm the amount it will have to pay to end the probes. These regulators have spent months investigating claims that analysts sometimes gave glowing reports on companies in order to lure their investment-banking business.

Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) will not be involved, since it settled with Spitzer for $100 million in May. As part of that agreement, Merrill agreed to provide separation between its research and investment-banking divisions. According to an Associated Press source, the amount the remaining firms will have to pay is dependent on their willingness to "implement changes to prevent future investment advice abuses and conflicts between firms' stock analyses and their investment-banking business."

Here are the approximate fine amounts, according to various published reports:

Citigroup (NYSE: C) : $500 million
Credit Suisse First Boston(NYSE: CSR): $250 million
Lehman Brothers(NYSE: LEH): $75 million
Deutsche Bank(NYSE: DB): $75 million
Bear Stearns(NYSE: BSC): $75 million
Goldman Sachs(NYSE: GS): $75 million
J.P. Morgan Chase(NYSE: JPM): $75 million
UBS Warburg(NYSE: UBS): $75 million
Thomas Weisel Partners: $60 million
Morgan Stanley(NYSE: MWD): $50 million

Wall Street investment firms getting what they deserve: priceless.