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The problem is that it's not a fine for the directors, it's a fine for the company itself.

It won't trickle down to the directors' salaries, so then there's no reason for them to act any differently in future.

Directors of companies should be personally financially liable for these types of penalties.

This is one of those things that sounds like it could make sense until you start to think about the mechanics of it. Should Mark Zuckerberg go to each of the people who made the misleading statements for which Facebook is being penalized and say “Hey, I’m making this your problem, pay me your share of the judgment or you’re fired?”

No, the state should fine them directly just as it would with any other civil offense. In technical terms, any directors active during the duration of the offense should be held jointly liable. This works because we aren't talking about rank and file employees here.

> It won't trickle down to the directors' salaries, so then there's no reason for them to act any differently in future

Not only that but this kind of behaviour is actively seen as necessary by them to maximize profits. Maximizing profits is in turn what shareholders want so everyone involved is going to continue doing this.

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