Wells Fargo has set aside $3.9 billion to settle legal disputes, including those related to its business practices (SPENCER PLATT)

New York (AFP) – Wells Fargo is close to reaching a settlement to pay about $3 billion to US regulators over the bank’s damaging fake accounts scandal, two sources told AFP Friday.

An official announcement is expected before the end of the day, one of the sources said on condition of anonymity, confirming information previously reported by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

The new agreement would be the latest development in the scandal dating back years, when Wells Fargo employees from 2002 to 2016 opened millions of deposit and credit card accounts without the approval or knowledge of their customers.

Two CEOs and other senior executives at the bank have lost their jobs amidst the probe into the scandal and outrage over claims the bank was slow to correct it.

Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest bank in the United States in terms of assets, has paid out more than $4 billion in financial penalties related to its business practices.

The bank is negotiating a deal with the Justice Department, which declined to comment, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which did not respond to questions.

Wells Fargo declined to comment, but the San Francisco-based bank can easily absorb the fine because it had set aside $3.9 billion at the end of June last year to settle legal disputes, including those related to its business practices.

The new deal will not cover any of the bank executives implicated in the case, the second source said, meaning federal authorities could still decide to prosecute them.

US authorities last month fined John Stumpf, Wells Fargo’s chief executive from 2005 to October 2016, $17.5 million and banned him for life from the banking sector.

Charlie Scharf, who took over as CEO last October, has promised to revive the bank, whose 2019 results have been hit by the scandal.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.