WASHINGTON -- Completing the first leg of its sprawling investigation arising from the scandal at Salomon Brothers Inc., the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed fines yesterday on 98 banks and Wall Street houses.

The move came after the institutions acknowledged that they had submitted scores of phony bids in the debt markets of five government-created organizations that raise money to lend to homebuyers, students, farms and banks.

In bringing this part of the investigation to a prompt conclusion, the SEC fined the banks and brokerages only about $5 million, or an average of $52,000.

The roster included many of the world's largest and most powerful financial companies, including all the nation's top banks and most of the key firms on Wall Street, as well as leading European and Japanese firms.

Included on the list were two Baltimore-based companies, Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. and First National Bank of Maryland, which agreed to pay $25,000 apiece, according to the SEC.

Salomon Brothers, which has undergone a tumultuous reorganization, remains under investigation by both the SEC and the Justice Department and was not part of yesterday's settlement.