The Janus mutual fund family is the latest to come to terms with regulators. The terms are: Pay $100 million now and give your customers $125 million in reduced fees over the next five years.

With that settlement, announced April 27, Janus became the latest in a series of big-wheel mutual fund managers to put behind them allegations that they let rich, profitable customers pilfer from profits that should have been shared with ordinary long-term investors.

Others that have settled include Alliance Capital management; Bank of America and FleetBoston (now merged); MFS Investment Management; and Putnam Investments. Those top-flight names will fork over nearly $2 billion in penalties, restitution and reduced charges to mutual fund customers.

The scandal was revealed last September by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Just so you'll know, Janus' new chairman and chief executive, Steve Scheid, says the settlement "reflects our strong commitment to doing what's right and to putting our fund shareholders' interests first."

Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar said he was pleased Janus has begun to make amends. "We have lost too much trust and confidence in the management of our corporate and financial institutions," he said.

Spitzer was the spark plug that started the investigations and has been responsible for compelling fund companies to cut their fees as part of the settlements. Salazar joined in the pursuit of Denver-based Janus.

Mutual funds are the primary investments of tens of millions of American households, including savings for college and retirement expenses.

But in a survey released last month, only about one-third of investors said they were "concerned" or "very concerned" about late trading and market-timing, the two practices that have spawned the scandal.

One reason may be that damage to any individual account may be quite small. Another may be that people don't understand just what has been uncovered. Here are some answers to common questions about the scandal:

• Who's affected?
• What does it mean to me?
• How will they split up the money for repaying shareholders' losses?
• When will I see the money?
• Has anybody been punished?
• What, exactly, were these fund managers doing?